The Pig Idea is an initiative headed by chef Thomasina Miers and food waste expert from Feeding the 5000, Tristram Stuart.
The Pig Idea campaign wants to make sure that good food is never wasted. It aims to:
Pigs are now being fed crops that people could otherwise eat, such as wheat, soy and maize. This increase in demand puts pressure on global food supplies, exacerbates global food price volatility and contributes to global hunger.
“Humans have been recycling food waste by feeding it to pigs for thousands of years,” said Tristram Stuart. “Reviving this tradition will help to protect forests that are being chopped down to grow the millions of tonnes of soya we import from South America every year to feed our livestock.”
The Pig Idea has the support of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Fergus Henderson, Giorgio Locatelli, John Torode, Emma Freud, Sara Cox and Rosie Boycott.
The London Food Board and three restaurant groups – Wahaca, D&D London and Soho House – are each sponsoring one of eight piglets being raised by The Pig Idea team at Stepney City Farm in East London. The piglets will be reared on a healthy menu of food waste collected from around London. From spent brewer’s grains, whey, unsold vegetables and bread (the food that would otherwise have been wasted) will be collected and fed to the pigs.
The Pig Idea campaign will culminate in a food event in London’s Trafalgar Square in November, where the UK’s best known chefs will gather to offer thousands of members of the public their favourite pork dishes, using the pork reared by the Pig Idea team.
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