Word from the West

West of Ireland food writer Anne Marie Carroll reports on an extraordinary event that took place in Galway last month - Food on The Edge.

Monday and Tuesday have traditionally been the chef’s day off. On Monday 19th & Tuesday 20th of October 2015 restaurants around the globe may well have been deserted as a gathering of the worlds top chefs and food leaders came together for Food On The Edge, a Food Symposium in Galway.

It saw some of the biggest names in food converge on Galway city for two days of debate around the future of food. 'Food On the Edge' was the brainchild of JP McMahon of the EatGalway restaurant group, which includes the small but much feted Aniar restaurant in Galway.

Over forty top international chefs attended the inaugural two-day event in Galway. Considered by many to be the equivalent of a ‘G8 Summit’ for food and food culture, international chefs, restaurateurs and up to 350 attendees a day came to Galway to share their thoughts on what the food industry can do for the future of food. The highly anticipated symposium aimed to challenge our perspective on food and our connection with it.

The 40 or so speakers over the two day event were all chosen for their innovation, passion and influence on today’s food culture. Each speaker, with their own unique perspective spoke on the cultural, social, environmental and educational aspects of food.

The mission of Food on the Edge was to create a benchmark for best practice, in terms of food, its culture, and the people who produce it, debated on an open platform. The theme was the 'Future of Food'.

‘I had the idea for this event over a year ago and contacted about 200 top chefs never expecting the likes of Daniel Patterson, Elena Arzak, Quique Dacosta, Albert Adria and David Kinch to accept my invitation. Their drive to constantly test boundaries with food and food sustainability and then share that knowledge is inspirational."

JP McMahon said. "Many had never been to Ireland, let alone Galway, so given the beauty of our rugged location and the food provenance we have here it was an easy task to ask them to speak at Food On The Edge and visit.’. JP has an enviable contact list on his laptop, that’s for sure.

Each participant was given the opportunity to deliver topics such as nostalgia, emigration, preservation and traditions that centred on the future of food. The core theme which emerged across the two days, however, was responsibility. Responsibility in the way we source food, waste food, fish for food and supply food was repeatedly returned to.

LA chef Daniel Patterson discussed new fast-casual project named Loco’l, an idea with the potential to revolutionise fast food in The States and to impact on, what Patterson says are, forgotten communities. He also used his time on stage to talk about the lack of diversity in the industry and asked why 95% of the top chefs are white males. He hopes that some of the local, black staff he will employ will go on to work in and influence the industry at the very top.

Top young Irish chef Mark Moriarty, San Pellegrino World Young Chef 2015 (Photo above by Boyd Challanger), spoke about the shortage of chefs facing the industry at the moment and said that all chefs, especially those at the top, have a responsibility to change the conditions of work in the kitchen. He believes that many young people avoid the industry because of the long hours, harsh settings, stress and lack of financial gain and asked that those who employ young staff help to improve this.

Food waste was another core theme for Matt Orlando from the Amass restaurant in Copenhagen. He talked of a hypothetical future in which restaurants could be taxed on the amount of food they waste and gain bigger tax breaks for using local suppliers and responsible energy consumption. "We need to be proactive and not reactive, when you are reactive it is already too late".

Supermarkets also came under fire from Australian chef, Mark Best who spoke about how large supermarket chains are destroying the supply chain with increased profits and small margins for farmers and other smaller suppliers.

He also admitted that despite having the best of weathers, soil and farmers that they as a country are unable to feed themselves, relying more and more on imports to feed their population. Canadian Amanda Cohan explained why vegetables were stupid.

Sustainability and fishing also formed a key focus for a number of chefs. Nathan Outlaw and Albert Adria spoke about the need for rapid changes if there is to be anything edible left in our oceans. Adria spoke about ingredients that in just 15 years have become less and less available such as lobsters and mussels.

Outlaw, who runs two specialist seafood restaurants in the UK, questioned his own future and asked if a restaurant like his is sustainable in the future and if so, how much would he have to charge diners to make it viable when his entire business is based on dwindling ocean stock.

Roderick Sloan, a man whose work is diving for sea urchins in Norway for restaurants like Noma and Malmo, suggested that chefs can impact the seafood industry by connecting with smaller, more sustainable fishermen, dealing with 20 tonne quota boats rather than monster 200 tonne trawlers that suck up stock from the sea with no care for by-catch. He believes that sustainability, waste reduction, inclusion and incorporation are fundamental things for chefs to understand and the ways to influence debate and increase awareness.

A number of renowned Irish chefs also spoke including Chapter One’s Ross Lewis, Paul Flynn of The Tannery‚ Kevin Thornton and our own Jessica Murphy from Kai.

JP McMahon said ‘The first Food on the Edge has surpassed all my dreams and expectations. I have rarely experienced such passion, interest and excitement from a group of chefs of this calibre, we have started a forum where chefs can openly debate and discuss the key issues of an industry which doesn’t often get a chance to meet and speak peer to peer. The future of food is crucial to the health and wellbeing of the next generations and not just to a fine dining audience. I look forward very much to continuing this conversation at Food on the Edge in 2016!’

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Anne Marie Carroll is a freelance food writer and member of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild who lives in Galway with her husband and two children.

With a background in design and illustration, Anne Marie made the switch to journalism with a regular food and wine column in The Galway Advertiser. Her work now mainly focuses on restaurant reviews, writing and editing recipes, the development of food photo shoots, including styling and photography. She also writes for a number of other publications and works as a consultant for small producers, food retailers and restaurants.

Anne Marie writes about all things food from the West of Ireland at her blog, Warm & Snug & Fat. You can also find her on twitter as @Biscuits4ABear