The LIFE Climate Smart Chefs project was launched in January 2022 to change our approach to food, climate and health, creating a resilient food system that is better for people and our planet. As part of this project, a new high-level course for culinary professionals will begin in January 2023.
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.”
Course description
The course includes 36 hours of training, and will be 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 will be 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 will be eight editions of the course, as follows. Places are limited to 20 trainees per edition.
- 2023: January, March, May, June, September, November
- 2024: January, February
Who is the course for?
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.
Learning outcomes
In this intensive course, you will learn:
- 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 to create menus that are nutritious, cost-effective and sustainable.
What is the LIFE Climate Smart Chefs project?
The LIFE Climate Smart Chefs project 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 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.
The Climate Smart Menu tool
The project is broken down into a number of specific actions. Nutritics is proud to be responsible for the development of the Climate Smart Menu tool, an online tool that chefs can use to calculate the combined health and sustainability impacts of their menus.
The Climate Smart Menu Tool 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.