The Recipe of Change initiative through UNEP West Asia collaborated with the YouthX Young Chef Challenge 2024 targeting young chefs from four prominent hotels in Saudi Arabia in an innovative contest. This competition provided a unique platform for these young chefs to showcase their culinary skills and gain recognition for their valuable contributions in implementing environmentally friendly practices within the region’s evolving culinary landscape.
The chefs competed in a zero-waste cooking competition to produce a 3-course menu in 1 hour in the presence of a star-studded jury composed of 5 globally renowned chefs, including UNEP advocate on Food Waste in West Asia Chef Leyla Fathallah, who highlighted the importance of creativity in the kitchen as the best advice for food waste reduction.
The collaboration aimed to increase awareness on food waste reduction and support the Hotel, Restaurant, and Café/Catering (HoReCa) industry in achieving SDG goal 12.3, which aims to halve food waste by 2030.
The competition featured at the Saudi Food Show garnered significant media attention and public interest, raising awareness about food waste reduction. The involvement of young chefs and their innovative approaches to zero-waste cooking resonated well with both the public and industry stakeholders.
The Recipe of Change initiative, a collaboration between UNEP West Asia and GO4SDGs, aims to raise public awareness and support countries efforts to achieve responsible consumption and production SDG12 and its target number 3 that aims to halve food waste by 2030
Watch a video highlight of this competition here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7UE4Hysgtq/
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For enquiries and more information on the Recipe of Change contact: [email protected]