The first edition of our new high-level course for culinary professionals ran in early February, and we’re thrilled to report that the feedback is overwhelmingly positive.
This groundbreaking new course is one facet of the LIFE Climate Smart Chefs project, launched in January 2022. This project aims to change our approach to food, climate and health, creating a resilient food system that is better for people and our planet.
As explained by the course brochure, “Food is both a cause and a victim of climate change. We all know this is a big challenge, but we do not always know what we can do about it in our daily lives and our jobs. As chefs, in fact, we can do a lot about it. This course shows you how.”
Learning outcomes
This intensive course is designed to teach attendees:
- Why food is important for our planet’s future and for solving climate change and other environmental challenges.
- How food can be good for our health and good for the environment.
- How you can create menus that are delicious, healthy, affordable and good for the planet — but also profitable!
- How to reduce food waste and save money.
- How to communicate the value of sustainability with your staff, suppliers and customers.
- How to use a specially designed menu engineering tool (Foodprint by Nutritics, also known as the Climate Smart Menu tool) to create menus that are nutritious, cost-effective and sustainable.
Edition one: February 2023
The first edition of the high-level course for culinary professionals was hosted at the beginning of February 2023 and was a resounding success.
Since this course is designed to help change the food system for the better, it was particularly heartwarming to see that 50% of our attendees were aged between 18 and 34, with 41.7% between 35 and 50. A full 100% of attendees were interested in knowing the environmental impact of their recipes and menus.
Feedback from the first edition
By the end of the course, 91.7% of the chefs in attendance said they were more confident in using Foodprint to create sustainable menus. Amazingly, a full 100% of the chefs said that they would be recommending Foodprint to other chefs in the industry.
“What an amazing tool! I believe it should be mandatory for all kitchens to have this tool in place […] It is user-friendly and gives a completely different perspective to portion sizes and how easy it is to make small changes in ingredients that will have big effects on numbers.”
“I think that the Foodprint software [has] so many functionalities that I can use every day in my work.”
“I love it, I think it’s a really useful and powerful tool, especially as a matter of raising awareness around [the] environmental impact of our food choices. I do not think it fits the average trattoria/pub-on-the-corner chef because of its complexity and [the] time needed to insert the data and handle the recipe tweaking. But definitely for chefs in higher end restaurants, in restaurant groups or chains, or for R&D chefs [such] as myself for creating, formulating and justifying ingredient choices.”
“[…] it’s important to learn more about how to make our recipes sustainable and healthy.”
Representing Nutritics as two of the course facilitators were Dr Laura Kirwan (Sustainability Lead at Nutritics) and Karen O’Brien (Senior Technical Executive). The pair said, “At Nutritics, we believe that chefs are key players in the transition to sustainable business practices. We were delighted to see the positive feedback from the chefs on the Climate Smart Chef high level course on our Foodprint software, and are looking forward to enabling positive climate action through our software, now and in the future.”
More about the course
This course is for those who:
- are at least 18 years old,
- are operators or students in the restaurant or hospitality sector,
- are working or studying in the EU, and
- have a basic understanding of the English language.
The curriculum includes 36 hours of training, and is hosted partly online and partly in person in the fantastic training facilities at ALMA, the School of Italian Culinary Arts in the heart of the Food Valley, Colorno, Italy. Sessions are taught by experts in the field, professional chefs and trainers. The course is free to attend. Support could be provided for the costs of accommodation.
There are seven more editions of the course scheduled, as follows. Places are limited to 20 trainees per edition.
- 2023: March, May, June, September, November
- 2024: January, February
Apply for this groundbreaking, free-of-charge course here.
More about the LIFE Climate Smart Chefs project
Nutritics is proud to be the technology partner on the LIFE Climate Smart Chefs project, which aims to contribute to the development and implementation of the EU Climate Policy and the Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy, and to aid the shift towards a low carbon economy by nurturing a climate-smart cooking and eating culture across the EU food system. The other partners of the project are Fondazione Barilla, the Italian culinary school ALMA – La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana, JAMK University of Applied Sciences and training specialists ENAIP NET.
The main project objectives are:
- to increase awareness of the relationship between food and climate change at the EU level, and
- to engage chefs as active changemakers and promoters of low emission, nutritious and affordable diets in the EU.
These objectives will be accomplished through actively involving European chefs as promoters of low-emission, nutritious and affordable diets that reduce environmental impacts, improve public health and tackle food waste. The goal is to provide chefs with the knowledge and tools needed to generate change in recipe design, menu planning and communication with customers, fostering awareness around climate and environmental issues.
For everyone engaged in the hospitality industry, the Life Climate Smart Chefs project offers an opportunity to effect real, sustainable change for the benefit of our planet.
Read more about the Climate Smart Chefs movement here.
More about Foodprint
Nutritics is proud to be responsible for the development of Foodprint, an online Climate Smart Menu tool that chefs can use to calculate the combined health and sustainability impacts of their menus.
Foodprint will support chefs in measuring the environmental impact of their kitchens by offering information on carbon and water footprints, nutritional values and the effects of food waste. By integrating nutritional and environmental data into one tool, chefs gain visibility over every contributing element and can engineer their menus accordingly. This gives them the power to create dishes that deliver a greater benefit to the climate and environment, while remaining nutritionally balanced.
Drive the change. Become a climate-smart chef.