Author: Melissa Hemsley
I love food. Everything about it: growing, buying, cooking and of course eating it! For me, everything tastes better when I know where it’s come from, how it’s been produced and that the people preparing and serving it are being treated well too.
So when the SRA asked me to host their Food Made Good Awards this November, I jumped at the chance because the food we eat really does matter and it’s so important to celebrate the restaurants going the extra mile and to share the recipe for success.
Like so many people now I’m always looking for delicious food that’s good for me and for the planet. Reading a daily dose of what feel like frightening stories about climate change can easily leave you feeling helpless. Winners are so inspiring – offering us a means of eating our way to a better future.
I worked with the SRA in 2018 on a guide to sustainable restaurants for BMWi and that introduced me to the growing group of places around the UK celebrating their local larder, turning ‘waste’ ingredients into moreish meals and making creating veg-based dishes to turn even the most committed carnivore. I found it so hard to whittle it down to just 30 restaurants, including SRA members The PIG, The Gallivant, River Cottage Kitchen, Root and Poco Tapas Bar – all of them previous winners of Food Made Good Awards. It must be a quite a feat for the judges to find just 20 winners. I can’t wait to hear about all the SRA members and suppliers, as well as chefs and owners from businesses across the UK dedicated to innovating the way we eat – helping people like me enjoy every last morsel of our meal when we eat out without a moment’s guilt.
To stand on stage on at Troxy alongside the incredible and inspiring Raymond Blanc OBE recognising these champions of genuinely good food will be a moment to celebrate.
Here’s to a night to remember on the 5th of November. I’d love to be able to call you up on to stage as a winner, so do take the chance to enter the awards now.
Melissa’s dedication to sustainability is inspirational, and we are very excited that she will be hosting our awards. Meanwhile you can catch her during her Sustainability Sessions.
Not quite ready to enter the awards yourself? Don’t miss out on this evening of sustainable excellence – get your tickets to the awards!
