How changing your dinner menu will help save the planet

As demand for more sustainable food grows and governments and international organisations increasingly urge us to change our diet to help the planet, there is also a focus on big businesses which consume much more resources than individual people.

The United Nations has outlined some key sustainability targets which include calls for a world free from hunger by 2030. The goal challenges companies to play their part in helping 2.4 billion people still struggling for regular access to adequate food.  

It is estimated 17 per cent of total food available to consumers is wasted; equivalent to 931 million metric tons of potential meals. The UN is asking citizens, companies and governments to work together on reducing waste and shaping a new more circular economy.  

More urgent action is also being demanded because national carbon emission commitments are currently not sufficient to limit warming and create a net zero world by 2050.

The stark warnings from the United Nations are supported by experts including celebrity chef and United Nations Advocate on Food Waste Leyla Fathalla.

Fathalla says change must start at the shopping phase.

"When we go to shop for our recipes we should plan our week ahead," she says. "We go to buy our ingredients according to the list of the recipes we will be cooking this week. So, we won’t buy any items that will go to waste by the end of the week.

"We have to calculate, just like in maths, what is the consumption of our family and cook accordingly.

"If we have more food than we can give to other people. Let’s cook or use the things we have in our cupboard and in our kitchen before anything else. That is how we get less food waste."

The Waldorf Astoria, Lusail in Qatar, is one international hotel which