The young SA chefs leading the charge against food waste

Kane Pollard’s award-winning venue creates one household bin of general waste a week. That’s right, one. He is among a group of young chefs fighting food waste.

Kane Pollard was a young kitchen-hand when he first learned the importance of minimising food waste.

The budding chef, then just 15 years old, was working in an Adelaide Hills nursing home, and noticed the cooks using every bit of produce to prepare their meals.

“Absolutely nothing was wasted. The older generation used to waste nothing,” he says.

“Gradually as I worked my way through the industry, I realised kitchens and restaurants in general are essentially a machine of waste.

“In striving for perfection, there’s a lot of stuff thrown in the bin, from wine bottles to broken plates to takeaway plastics, and food stems, cores, peels and bones.

“Later there was this moment when I realised and asked myself, ‘What am I doing here?’”

Two decades on, Pollard, 35, is a leader in Australia’s sustainable food movement.

His award-winning cafe, Topiary in Tea Tree Gully, produces less than one household bin of general waste each week as it serves up to 1000 customers.

Chef Kane Pollard at his Tea Tree Gully cafe Topiary Picture: Tricia Watkinson

As head chef, Pollard diligently finds a way to use each part of every bird, fish or animal prepared in his kitchen.

Products such as butter and bread are made entirely by the restaurant while all ingredients are sourced locally, not just to reduce the environmental impact of transportation but to connect with suppliers that apply organic methods.

“I think that being a chef puts you in the box seat to make a massive difference,” said Pollard, who was previously in charge of SkyCity Adelaide’s Sol restaurant.

“If we lived the same way as our ancestors did many years ago, the world would be a better place. They had it sorted. But it’s slowly got worse over time and became the norm.

“I’m on that mission to bring back as many of those old techniques, while keeping in mind it’s a new world with a new palate, and there’s more mouths to feed.”

Pollard’s contemporary and good friend, The Salopian Inn founder Karena Armstrong, is just as passionate about sustainable food practices.

She and Pollard will co-host a Tasting Australia event, Wasted, on May 5, which showcases the philosophy throughout a four-course feast in Town Square.

It’s part of Armstrong’s first program as co-director of the annual food and drink festival, alongside Sydney chef Darren Robertson.

“Across the whole festival, we want people to look at sustainability, it’s so important for the planet’s future,” she said.

“You can make the most extraordinary things from waste. Traditionally, so many cultures around the world have done this but now it’s coming back into professional cooking.

“That’s what this dinner is all about, how can we improve and teach the next generation.”

Armstrong, 47, has worked interstate under some of Australia’s best-known chefs, from Alla Wolfe Tasker (Daylesford’s Lake House), Karen Martini (The Melbourne Wine Room) and Kylie Kwong (Billy Kwong).

She returned home to SA with her husband in 2004, taking a break from the industry to raise their young family.

But she continued creating “ridiculous” dinners for family and friends, before the opportunity to launch The Salopian Inn, in picturesque McLaren Vale, came up in 2012.

From the start, she placed a strong focus on reducing the environmental footprint of the business without sacrificing the quality of the dining experience.

Chef Karena Armstrong. Picture – Supplied

“You see just see so much waste (in restaurants), all for that hedonistic moment … where now I think the need for that moment is changing, the consumer is changing. They understand what we’re trying to do and they value it,” she says.

“I just think beautiful food cooked with love always tastes good.”

Salopian Inn has a stringent recycling and composting program, with four different bins in the kitchen, and much of their ingredients are grown in Armstrong’s garden on the property.

Her team of chefs also ferment, pickle or preserve any excess food, and they work with small, local producers to create their unique menu.

“We look at ingredients first, recipe second,” she says.

“We don’t go to a producer and say, ‘We want scotch fillet’. We go to a producer and say, ‘What have you got too much of?”

That changing mindset is growing among local restaurateurs and chefs, according to former MasterChef finalist Mandy Hall.

An avid fermenter and preserver of produce, Hall has worked with organisations promoting sustainable practices such as Fight Food Waste Research and Foodbank.

“We are seeing many more restaurants growing their own produce and chefs seeking out produce or supplies from local growers and farmers,” said Hall, who shares the sustainability message in her cooking classes and on her blog.

“Sustainable producers have been fighting to be heard for such a long time, the tide is turning, people want to hear what they have to say.”

Former MasterChef finalist Mandy Hall.

Hall says that food waste continues to be a “significant issue” in Australia with over 7.6 million tonnes thrown away each year across the supply and consumption chain – equal to about 312kg per person.

“The industry needs help to understand or gain access to alternatives to plastics, tackling food waste and time to develop relationships,” said Hall, who will host Tasting Australia’s new Storytellers Series, revealing the stories behind some of the country’s top chefs.

“They all work so hard, and the last couple of years have been such an enormous strain. Putting new systems into place, tackling waste, creating root to bloom, nose to tail dining takes a lot of time, resources and commitment initially. They are strapped and exhausted at the moment.

“It would be such a good thing to see support or initiatives that make those changes easier for them to adopt.”

Tasting Australia’s dedication to showcasing the country’s best food and drink is matched only by its commitment to educating the public about the impact of our food choices.

The festival will compost any leftover food each day and will track its recycling efforts, while reusable $2 enamel plates will be sold by all food vendors in Town Square. Armstrong is also constantly thinking of new ideas for the event.

“I’d love to have a visual composting area so people can actually learn what they can do with it. I think people are interested,” she says.

“As the festival moves on in the next few years, I’d also love to have a bee hive there (in Town Square) … and next year we want to do more cooking with waste and just really push it forward, to show that it can be premium (dining).

“My purpose in cooking is no longer about the restaurant’s fame or anything like that, it’s about doing things better.”

Creating positive discussion and building momentum, through events such as the ten-day festival, is critical for the planet’s future, Pollard says.

“The conversation is well and truly underway. Karena has been a trailblazer, it’s a part of her DNA,” he says.

“SA has come a super long way with it in general and Tasting Australia is upping the ante which is incredible to see. It’s going to be amazing to see how we grow this year into next.”