Learn more about leading a sustainable potluck meal
- Overview
Bring people together to share a healthy and sustainable potluck meal, taste different foods and exchange recipes.
- Objectives
Promote sustainable and healthy eating habits while raising awareness around reducing food waste and tips for climate-smart cooking. Foster a sense of environmental stewardship by encouraging people to taste and learn to prepare seasonal, local and plant-based dishes.
- Target group
General public. This activity can involve a wide variety of target groups, including friends and neighbours, colleagues, school and youth groups, climate activists, and others.
- Before
- Select the time and location for your potluck meal – see tips below.
- Invite your guests, encouraging them to bring one tasty and healthy dish cooked with plant-based local seasonal ingredients or with food that would have otherwise been wasted, such as products close to their expiration date. Encourage everyone to use reusable containers and bags to carry the food.
- Be available to answer questions from the participants. You could go grocery shopping together to discover places where you can find local low-impact products.
- Register as a host.
- Prepare your potluck dish, necessary cutlery and kitchenware for your guests, and any recipe examples you would like to share.
- During
- Welcome your guests: Introduce yourself and the Climate Pact. Help them put their meals on the table. Explain the activity and importance of food and sustainability. If you’d like to offer a prize for the best dish, present the prize and place it in a visible location.
- Present the dishes: Before the food tasting part of the event, each guest should briefly present their potluck dish and explain why it is healthy and sustainable. For bigger gatherings, the cooks could be invited to fill in a card with simple information on the health and sustainability of the dish (find a sample card in the resources section).
- Enjoy the food: It’s time for the decisive proof of taste! Invite everyone to try a little bit of each dish so that they can vote for their favourite.
- Group vote: Invite everyone to vote on the tastiest, healthiest and most sustainable dish – name each dish one by one and ask the participants to raise their hand to vote for their preferred dish. Write down the number of votes on the dish’s card. The cook of the winning dish wins the prize and shares the winning recipe with the participants.
- Group picture: If the participants agree, take a group picture. If you would like to share the group picture with the Climate Pact, please ask the participants to sign the consent form available in the resources below.
- Wrap up by thanking everyone for their participation and cleaning up together. Distribute the left-over food among the participants, with tips on how to preserve food. Sort any remaining waste and channel it to composting, recycling or valorisation, as required.
- After
- Let us know how it went by sharing the results of your activity with the Climate Pact.
Tips
- Look for locally and sustainably produced, plant-based and low-processed ingredients.
- Try to use food or ingredients that would otherwise be wasted. Supermarkets and shops often sell products that are close to their expiration date and ‘ugly vegetables’ at discount prices. Plan your activity with the 3-Rs waste in mind: reduce, reuse, recycle.
- Use the potluck to share and learn recipes, stories and memories related to food, health and sustainability. Don’t forget to enjoy the flavours and have fun!
- You could invite a professional cook or nutritionist to address topics related to food and health, or a local farmer to talk about regional foods and seasonal vegetables. Senior citizens can also be great guests with traditional recipes and old customs to achieve ‘zero-waste’ meals.
- Offer small prizes, such as aromatic herbs for cooking, for categories like the most creative dish and the best waste-avoider.
- Cooperate with the local community. Partner with community organisations, foundations or NGOs focusing on food/sustainability, consumer associations, farms, local producers, bulk shops, chefs, supermarkets, food producers and retailers, and research centres.
Example(s) of implementation
- The Netherlands - “Since I became a Pact Ambassador, I started to raise awareness among my friends and colleagues by hosting #zerowaste dinners with food rescued with the Too Good To Go app, or cinema nights watching documentaries on WaterBear,” says Pact Ambassador Roberta Bosu. Roberta also started composting and joined the composting group in her neighbourhood: “We are having a harvest day later this month and we will use the compost in a communal garden.”
- Germany - Pact Ambassador Rodrigo Pérez-García leads climate walks around Potsdam and Berlin, where participants learn to recognise and forage for wild plants. The walks end with a cooking session. “It is very nice to see people’s reactions to a nettle pesto or birch syrup!”
- Bulgaria - The FoodObox app, Bulgaria’s first mobile app fighting food waste, was founded by Pact Ambassador Jane Dimitrova. Local stores use it to reduce their food waste and attract new customers, while the app users get access to delicious food at discount prices. By April 2023, FoodObox had already saved around 17 tonnes of surplus food from being thrown away.
“Bring two or three veggie dips, such as hummus, muhammara and baba ghanoush – they are perfect not only for sandwiches, but also for dipping and adding as a side dish.”
Climate Pact Ambassador Aitor Sánchez García, Spain
Showcase the results and encourage others to scale-up!
- Encourage participants to take pictures during the activity, share them on social media and tag #EUClimatePact and #MyWorldOurPlanet
Suggestions to continue ongoing engagement
- Transform your one-time potluck into a regular get-together. Take turns hosting the potluck with the other participants.
- Organise follow-up visits to local farmers markets, farms or zero-waste shops.
- Co-organise a sustainable and healthy cooking class – consider collaborating with a cooking school that prioritises sustainability. Get inspiration from local foods, traditions and culture, and food-based dietary guidelines.
- To go the extra mile to minimise waste, host a composting workshop, or consider raising chickens or other farm animals that can feed on the peelings and other organic waste generated from the potluck meals.
- Encourage participants to host a similar activity.
- Invite participants to use the UN Act Now – AWorld app to reduce their carbon footprint through daily activities, such as walking and cycling or minimising food waste.
- Explore other Climate Pact tools and resources to engage your network and community.
Acknowledgements
The European Climate Pact is grateful for the following contributions to the development of this tool:
Pact Ambassadors: Aitor Sánchez García, Amélia Maria Sousa Martins Muralha Delgado, Barbora Bruskova, Clara Tomé, Roberta Bosu, and Rodrigo Pérez-García.
Pact Partners: SlowFood and Athena Research Center.
Country Coordinators for Italy, Germany and Portugal.
LIFE project Climate Smart Chefs, Fondazione Barilla, Marta Antonelli.