Currently, a third of the world's food production
is thrown away
, and gastronomic activity is one of the activities that generates the greatest waste.
To avoid this enormous environmental and economic impact, the trend of zero waste
restaurants and bars is growing around the world
, in which the aim is to prevent or
reduce food waste to a minimum
, as well as the generation of waste from the use of plastic and disposable containers.
The movement began in Europe, with restaurants like
Nolla
(zero in Finnish) in Helsinki;
Frea
in Berlin or
Silo
in London;
and arrived in Argentina, with proposals for circular cuisine, regenerative cuisine or kilometer zero, from the north of the country to Patagonia.
They are different concepts, but they all point to the same thing: taking care of health and at the same time the environment through food.
Circular cuisine
is
one in which parts of the food such as peels, seeds and stems are used, based on innovative recipes and a menu governed by local and seasonal products.
Regenerative cuisine
is
based on foods whose cultivation or production does not harm the soil and the environment but rather seeks to improve it by providing nutrients and biological diversity.
The so-called
kilometer zero gastronomy, or kilometer 30
, is that which promotes the use of products from the farm or garden itself, or from local and nearby production, no further than 30 kilometers.
In this way, the environmental footprint of transporting food is reduced, as well as the extra costs imposed by transporters and intermediaries.
Many of these ventures seek, in addition to a positive environmental impact, to generate a social benefit, by incorporating and training workers from vulnerable sectors, hiring suppliers and cooperatives of the social economy, and supporting artistic and cultural initiatives in their spaces.
All this without neglecting the quality of its gastronomic proposal.
Regenerative cuisine in Santiago del Estero
Founded by
Florencia Nieva and Agustín Kuran
10 years ago, the
Amasijo
restaurant , in Santiago del Estero, is today an icon of regenerative cuisine at a national and international level.
The couple of young professionals (Agustín is a graphic designer and Flor has a degree in administration), decided to venture into the gastronomic field in 2013, rescuing the best of the Santiago gastronomic tradition, but providing innovation and a triple impact approach (economic, social and environmental ).
They started with their own investment and a provincial loan for tourism ventures.
“We always believed in the gastronomic potential of our province, and we target both the local public and visitors who like to travel and eat well,” says Florencia.
“We went to the rescue of typical but little-known dishes, such as charqui empanadas, goat cheeses and fruits of the mountain, trying to make the most of seasonal products, from our garden and from local producers,” says the entrepreneur.
Everything in the restaurant has a Santiago imprint: from the ingredients to the dishes, tablecloths and furniture.
In its hall, works by local artists are also exhibited, and performances by local musicians are held.
Environmental care is present from the formulation of the menu to the size of the portions
.
If there is anything left over on the plate, the customer can take it away in a compostable tray.
The organic waste is composted or dumped into a biodigester that produces gas to power the kitchen and fertilizer for the garden.
Avoiding waste is a challenge in an area of the country where temperatures, in summer,
exceed 45 degrees
.
In fact, the restaurant operates much of the year only at night.
To reduce discards from 60% to less than 40%, they had to adapt the menu, and that was what Agustín Kuran took care of, who is also finishing his degree in Food Engineering.
A parallel project of Amasijo partners, together with the National University of Santiago del Estero, INTA and INTI, is
Mujeres de La Cañada
(located in the department of Figueroa, 100 kilometers from the capital of Santiago), for the production of
sweets and prickly pear pulp
.
The initiative aims both to generate products for the restaurant and to supply the food industry.
Choosing local suppliers is another of its premises.
“We don't always achieve it, as in the case of compostable trays, but the future plan is to develop these suppliers,” said Flor Nieva.
The impact on value generation is also visible.
90% of the employees are young people from vulnerable neighborhoods or women who are heads of families.
Agustín Kuran, co-founder of the Amasijo restaurant, in Santiago del Estero.
In 2023, Amasijo was one of the three finalists for the Baron B federal culinary award. Upon receiving it, Agustín Kuran summarized the restaurant's philosophy: “
Today it is not enough to talk about sustainability and not polluting
.
We have to regenerate everything lost and damaged from food.
That is why we aim for a regenerative cuisine not only in the environmental sense, but also in the cultural sense, revaluing our identity.”
Triple impact Buenos Aires bar
An old mansion in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Villa Crespo is the headquarters of
Doble Sentido
, a cultural bar founded in 2022 by
Mariano Liberman and Luciano Marinaro
, friends since primary school.
They came from different fields (Mariano from a family textile company and Luciano from the Human Resources area in a multinational) and faced a gastronomic venture that they presented as an inclusive, environmental and cultural project.
The team at the Doble Sentido bar, in Villa Crespo, in its beginnings.
Every detail of the bar points to that: from accessibility for people with disabilities and reduced mobility, to the use of the terrace for a garden and compost bin.
All drinks are sold in returnable containers, and “unavoidable plastics” are separated and removed by a cooperative of recyclers.
The space is smoke-free, but so that customers do not leave cigarette butts lying on trees or on the sidewalk, they offer containers to
dispose of them in a differentiated manner
, since cigarette butts are highly toxic waste, which contaminates water courses through the sewerage.
As for the Doble Sentido menu, it is planned with seasonal and agroecological products, including dishes for vegans and those suitable for celiacs.
“We do not fry, and we have a second kitchen for products without TACC (wheat, oats, barley and rye).
We try to reduce energy consumption and water footprint.
We bought a glass washer to save water and avoid breakages and accidents with glass glasses,” Liberman said.
The bar has an upper floor where musical shows, theater and book presentations are held, to promote new artists and authors.
Events such as birthdays and business meetings are also held.
If there is leftover food, diners can bring it in compostable packaging made by an SME in Formosa, and the rest is donated to the organization “Ser Con Vos”, which works with homeless people.
Mariano Liberman and Luciano Marinar, from the Doble Sentido bar, in Villa Crespo.
The Food Donation Law (Donal Law) is key in this aspect, given that its purpose is to generate incentives for companies, through tax benefits.
However, the norm that was sanctioned in 2004 was never fully implemented until the end of 2018, when the national Congress restored an article that exempts donor companies from damages that could occur “a posteriori”, as long as the Food is in consumer condition at the time it is donated.
Gourmet recipes in El Impenetrable
Located in El Impenetrable Chaqueño,
Anna, Restaurante de Campo
, combines regional cuisine and signature cuisine with an approach based on sustainability.
Located in Colonia El 44, a place on the route that leads to El Impenetrable National Park, the restaurant is supplied only with food and products from a radius of no more than 40 kilometers.
“The menu is based on seasonal products and what we have in our garden, with traditional recipes and local raw materials,” says
Alina Ruiz
, the cook and entrepreneur who created this project in honor of her grandmother.
Alina Ruiz (white apron), creator of Anna Restaurante de Campo, in El Impenetrable, Chaco.
Born and raised in Finca Don Miguel, a field 12 kilometers from the Chaco town of Castelli, Alina finished high school and traveled to Buenos Aires to study gastronomy.
There he worked selling food and in family homes, to attend the Colegio del Gato Dumas and the Argentine School of Sommeliers, always with the idea of returning to his province.
Finally, in 2009, Anna Restaurante de Campo opened its doors, in the center of the family ranch.
And six years later he moved to his own premises, a few kilometers away and on the side of the road.
At first, many mocked his project.
Who is going to go eat in the middle of the mountain?
,
they asked him.
Alina distributed brochures, invited tastings, and little by little diners arrived and recommended the place.
It is a
“kilometer zero” restaurant
, based on products produced in-house.
On an environmental level, the proposal reduces the carbon footprint of food production and transportation, promotes local agriculture and encourages the development of small producers and suppliers in the area.
At the same time, fresh and seasonal foods are offered.
The ingredients for the dishes come from the garden and the farm: sheep, goats, pigs;
ducks, chickens;
an apiary with beehives;
cassava, cucumbers, watermelons, and leafy vegetables that grow in the shade in the torrid summers, with drip irrigation and own seeds.
Brownies, ice creams and other preparations are made with carob, a fruit similar in flavor and texture to cocoa.
The cook Alina Ruiz, owner of Anna, in the Chaco Impenetrable.
This project, which has support from the Rewilding Argentina Foundation, involves women from the community who collect the fruits.
“We work on environmental education, to teach them to take care of carob trees and other species of nature, from which we obtain a livelihood,” says the cook and entrepreneur, who through social networks works for rural change and to encourage others. women to develop their ventures in harmony with nature.
Zero waste in Misiones
On the waterfront of the city of Posadas, the
Poytáva
restaurant , which in Guaraní means "food", is a reference for circular cuisine.
Created and managed by chef
Saúl Lencina
together with his wife
Ángeles De Muro
, the place reuses kitchen waste, uses wooden or clay tableware and the furniture is recycled.
Saúl Lencina, in charge of the Poytáva restaurant, in Posadas.
When hiring staff, its owners prioritize those who have the greatest economic needs and carry out exchange activities with aboriginals, cooking with them and developing gastronomy events.
“
Eating healthy, circular and agroecological cannot be just for a few
.”
In school there should be a subject dedicated to Food.
“This way the State would save health costs,” says Saúl.
In the dishes he makes, everything has a meaning.
The chef investigates where they planted the vegetables, what was there before, who sells it.
“If the native forest is cut down to grow organic tomatoes, it is useless,” he points out.
The restaurant's furniture is manufactured by urban reclaimers and local artisans.
They come from fallen trees and fruit crates.
Purchases are made at the city's fair, to reduce gas emissions due to transportation, and the establishment has its own garden.
The discarded leaves are used to make cakes, croquettes or fillings.
With the peel of beets and carrots you obtain a powder for meringue.
Finally, what cannot be used is made compost to fertilize the land.
In turn, they manufacture flavored waters and artisanal soft drinks that they sell in returnable glass containers.
Those who return the container have a discount.
Is it a profitable project?
Lencina affirms yes: “By saving resources you save money.
This is the most sustainable way to maintain a business.”
Caring for the environment through food
According to data from the former ministry and current Ministry of Agriculture, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in Argentina more than
400 tons of food
are lost without being consumed every day, which is equivalent to throwing away one kilo of food per inhabitant per day.
One third corresponds to losses during harvest and post-harvest, another third during production, marketing and transportation, and the same in the consumption phase (gastronomic businesses and homes).
Although there are no national regulations on gastronomic waste, some districts, such as the City of Buenos Aires, promote their own “green seal” for establishments that meet certain sustainability parameters.
Among others: separate waste at source, compost organic waste, recycle cooking oil, avoid disposable containers and tableware, replace plastic film and trays with recycled paper and cardboard for delivery, use LED lights (low consumption ) and have your own garden or buy agroecological products in nearby markets.
The process involves a series of training and the commitment of the establishments to dispose of organic waste in transparent bags (which are taken to the city's recycling center, in the Villa Soldati neighborhood, where they are processed to obtain compost, fertilizers and biogas. ).
On the path to sustainability, restaurants can lead efforts by purchasing food from agroecological and local suppliers, reducing food waste, improving energy efficiency and training their staff for rational use of energy.
On the other hand, the implementation of technologies for data analysis allows for better management of purchases and minimization of waste.
Don Julio Grill, in Palermo Viejo.
Photo: Martín Bonetto
The traditional restaurants
Parrilla Don Julio
and
El Preferido
were the first to obtain this certification granted by the Buenos Aires government.
Both are part of the city's Circular Economy Network.