Imagine the Menu of the Future - Harper's BAZAAR (Copy) (Copy)

Bush tucker, insect snacks, meat labs and the new responsible eating.

SUSTAINABLE DINING isn’t new, but as our climate emergency acceler- ates, so too do food innovations. Dan Hunter, head chef at Brae in Victoria, for example, saw his restaurant named a runner-up in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ Sustainable Restaurant Award last year for his waste-management system, which results in only six wheelie bins on the street on bin night, from an operation that seats 45. Jock Zonfrillo at Orana in Adelaide employs full-time foragers and connects with First Nations people to understand traditional ingredients, simultane- ously reducing the mileage on his produce and preserving the history of Australian bush tucker. And Ben Shewry at Melbourne’s Attica is the ambassador of the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s GoodFish project; chefs who sign up pledge not to source or serve seafood that is red- listed in the society’s Sustainable Seafood Guide.

Some are looking further afield, to bugs (and not the Balmain kind). Scientists are studying the nutritional profiles of native insects to get a better idea of which ones could be farmed and consumed sustainably while still offering a decent serve of protein. Byron Bay startup Grilo has had its cricket energy bars stocked in IGA supermarkets in New South Wales and Queensland, and Mars Food recently announced Australian edible insect farm Edible Bug Shop (which supplies Attica) has been selected to receive grant funds and mentoring through its Seeds of Change accelerator. Globally, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization predicts the edible insect market will be worth $1.8 billion by 2023, pointing out that insects don’t require land clearing and can live on organic waste, while being a rich source of protein, calcium, iron and zinc.

Another answer to feeding our future popula- tion (10 billion by 2050 is the prediction) could be other alt-proteins. Researchers at Chicago- based management consulting firm A.T. Kearney suggest that by 2040, up to 60 per cent of ‘meat’ won’t actually be meat, and will instead come from animal cells grown in a lab or plant-based imposters. In Silicon Valley in particular, the race is on for a plant-based product that tastes and feels like real meat. Beyond Meat was the first startup to experiment with meatlike replacements, while Pat Brown, founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, is on a controversial mission to replace all animal agriculture and deep-sea fishing with plant-based, nutritionally superior alternatives by 2035.

While a lab-grown steak is, by generous esti- mates, still 10 years away, a future in which we can enjoy our favourite foodie delights without the moral and environmental repercussions is an idea worth munching on.

TWO TO TRY
A pair of new Italian-ish joints worth leaving the house for

CICCIABELLA

The new Bondi osteria from the Icebergs crew, helmed by former Acme chef Mitch Orr, has the potential to ‘do a Totti’s’ when it comes to popularity with Sydneysiders. cicciabella.com.au

PASTORE

Chef-restaurateur Scott Pickett has just opened the doors to his latest, Pastore (after the Italian word for ‘shepherd’) in Melbourne. pickettandco.com/pastore

This story originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of Harper’s BAZAAR magazine. Image: Catherine Servel/Trunk Archive/Snapper Images.