A group of leading chefs, led by Soho restaurateur Ed Baines, has called on suppliers and the packaging industry to use less polystyrene food packaging.
The chefs made the appeal in an open letter to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Excessive and rising amounts of food packaging were 'the scourge of Soho', they said, and the main culprit was polystyrene, which is bulky, non-biodegradable and cannot be recycled. It is also often unnecessary, they said, and could be replaced by more environmentally friendly materials.
The letter notes that in the US, San Francisco, New York and Washington DC have all placed restrictions on the use of polystyrene packaging.
However, the Foodservice Packaging Association was dismissive of the chefs' appeal, telling the trade publication Foodmanufacture that the chefs' concerns were 'strange and misplaced. The packaging was '100% safe and resource efficient', it said.
Read the chefs' letter here, and find out more about Sustain's work for a less wasteful food supply here.
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
