What if the Power Were on Your Plate?

Cooking

The word cooking derives from the Latin coquere, meaning “to cook” or “to prepare food with heat”. It refers to the set of operations used to make ingredients edible, safe, digestible, or more appealing, through heat or other controlled transformations. Cooking includes domestic preparation, artisanal, and restaurant work, as well as industrial processes carried out on a large scale. 

The added value of home cooking and catering services lies in the final transformation of food into ready-to-eat meals. Through preparation, assembly, cooking, and presentation, raw or semi-processed products acquire immediate use value. Culinary work incorporates skill, time and energy, improving sensory quality, food safety, and digestibility. In the home and in institutional catering alike, this transformation creates a concrete and measurable benefit.

Value is also created through services and social interaction. Canteens, hospitals, street food, fine dining, and home delivery provide convenience, social connection, experiences, and time savings. Catering externalises culinary work and shares equipment, generating economies of scale, and employment. It adds symbolic and cultural value to a meal beyond its nutritional function.
 

The Hidden Costs of Preparing Food

Consumption is the final point at which hidden costs accumulate. Diets rich in animal products increase carbon footprints and land use, while household waste places unnecessary pressure on resources. In some contexts, a large share of total environmental impact results from avoidable losses. At this stage, individual ethical choices are immediate, because every one of us consumes food every day.

Non-communicable diseases associated with diets poorly suited to individual and population needs impose immense costs on health systems. Unequal access to healthy food, dependence on ultra-processed products, and the loss of culinary cultures create profound social costs. Overall, the gap between the price paid and the true cost demonstrates a systematic transfer of burdens to society and future generations.
 

Waste at Home and in Restaurants

Waste mainly results from excessive purchasing, portions that are too large, uneaten meals, poor storage, confusion between “use by” and “best before”, and forgotten leftovers. In restaurants, buffets, and canteens, the quantities prepared often exceed demand. Every food item thrown away also represents all the water, energy, land, and labour used to produce it.
 

Examples of Practical Solutions 

• Reward the Efforts of Committed Restaurants
  Introduce grants, tax benefits, or public certification for restaurants, school canteens, hospitals, and care homes that reduce waste, favour local and plant-based products, and agree fair-price contracts with producers. Sustainable effort must become a visible economic advantage.
• Reward Exemplary Public and Institutional Catering
  Make sustainability criteria mandatory in public procurement: seasonality, low-carbon menus, waste reduction, and fair payment for suppliers. Public money must support actors that invest in the transition.
• Transform Fast Food and Street Food Through Incentives
  Give financial and media recognition to businesses that reduce oversized portions, disposable packaging, and their carbon impact. A clear certification mark enables consumers to reward outlets that are consistent with their environmental commitments.
• Make Home Cooking an Ethical Choice
  Plan meals, reduce waste, favour plant-based foods, and accept paying a 'fair price' when it rewards a genuine sustainability effort. Every purchase and every dish prepared becomes a subject for reflection and a societal choice. Who does my food choice reward?