We say that ‘Sustainable Street Gastronomy’ is high quality, delicious and nutritious global cuisine - prepared, cooked and served from a street kitchen using seasonal, organic and local ingredients.
Gastronomy is a concept which many associate with expensive food and celebrity chefs, but in essence it means something entirely different.
Gastronomy refers to the art of choosing, cooking and eating good food. This can be anything from from selecting the best, most appetising food from a particular region to the science of “good eating”.
The importance of food as a means of cultural heritage is something which UNESCO find so important that they refer to Gastronomy in their List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity saying it “emphasizes togetherness, the pleasure of taste, and the balance between human beings and the products of nature”.
For us at StreetCube we wanted to focus on some of the common elements of what Gastronomy means. On the balance between humans and nature, the eating of good food and the fostering of togetherness.
Sustainable Street Gastronomy is grown from the fact that Streetcube is committed to sustainability. By this we mean working with the environment to avoid depleting natural resources and to maintain ecological balance. We want to maintain a healthy planet, as well as healthy people!
We have a commitment to sustainability at the core of all our operations and we ask all employees and Streetcubists to adhere to our 8 pledges;
Zero Plastic
Zero Waste
Organic Produce
Local Produce
Seasonal Produce
More veg, better meat
Reinvest in local communities
Go above and beyond food allergy labelling laws
The StreetCube ethos is written clearly in our StreetCube Sustainability Charter. We align our operations to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, all our chefs adhere to our principals, and those set out in the Chef’s Manifesto
The origins of Streetcube stem from our founders taking 360 degree look at how far the food system has come in 50 years and trying to predict how it will look in 50 years time.
As our climate changes and our planet warms, food and nutrition are among the critical issues that face civilisation and unless we drastically change our attitude towards agriculture and the environment we risk extinction, or in the very least a huge depletion in global biodiversity.
Advances in agricultural science and technology have contributed to remarkable increases in food production since the mid-twentieth century, however the industrial scale food production system we have created comes at a massive cost to the environment and overall health of both people and planet.
In Professor Philip Sloan’s book ‘The Routledge Handbook Of Sustainable Food and Gastronomy’, he states ‘The issues surrounding the provision, preparation and development of food products are fundamental to every human being on the planet”. This is particularly poignant in light of the fact that two of the major dichotomous issues facing the world today are starvation and obesity.
This is where we step in - we say that in order to create change, we all need to think as global citizens, and to celebrate similarity not difference. Every revolution has to start somewhere and we want to be the change that we want to see in the world.
At Streetcube we believe we need to challenge our agriculture to:
1. Increase agricultural production of nutrient-rich foods
2. Reduce global food inequality
3. Reverse and prevent resource degradation.
And we want to support initiatives and producers who actively comply with these ideals.
Another global environmental problem that will only increase with time is single use plastics. The food industry is a huge contributor to the pollution of ocean’s and the increase in landfill. In 2015 alone 42% of the plastic produced was used in packaging and plastic packaging made up 52% of all plastic that was thrown away (Source - Earth Day.org). This has only increased year on year. Packaging like this is ostensibly used to prolong the shelf life of products, especially when they have travelled long distances.
This is why Streetcube is committed not only to being Zero Plastic but also to sourcing food locally. We want to minimise the carbon impact of the food, avoid sending more waste to landfill and in to the oceans and to support growers who share our values.
It is through these commitments that we support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We were inspired by these to create Streetcube and our zero plastic and short milage produce ties directly to the goals on Life Below Water, Life on Land and also Climate Action.
Good Health and Wellbeing is another UN SDG which has inspired Streetcube.The NHS struggles to cope with rising diabetes levels, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, obesity and the many other ailments attributed to poor diet and poor malnutrition and we believe passionately in the relationship between nourishing food and good health. This is why we want to make street food and are not looking to set up a restaurant. We want to be on the ground, in communities offering a healthy, nourishing fast food alternative at an affordable price.
StreetCube empowers local chefs to operate their own semi-permanent Street kitchens where chefs can have a direct connection with their customers, and can develop their own brand focused on a more sustainable, regenerative food system that is able to use organic produce from the local area.
Many chefs are discouraged from opening local restaurants because of the astronomical cost of rent and the risk of failure. We want to help budding chefs by giving them a platform to showcase their food and to connect with a community, without it having to cost the earth.
There is also an element of convenience - we want Streetcube to be just as convenient and affordable as a fast-food restaurant, but without the high fat, high salt, high sugar content that fast food has become synonymous with. We want it to be sustainable, healthy, innovative and above all tastes good!
We actively encourage our chefs to connect with local food growing projects and charities that give back to the local area. Be it in terms of work opportunities, pioneering for better food, supporting local farmers or by collaborating with local businesses.This ties us in to the UN goal of Creating Sustainable Cities and Communities. Streetcube kitchens create a hub and a focus for suppliers, budding chefs and for customers eager to try something new.
It is really important to us to place these kitchens in high-footfall areas so as to connect customers who may not otherwise encounter each other in a formal restaurant setting.
We say that ‘Good Food Doesn’t Have To Cost The Earth’ - because we feel everyone should have access to nourishing, high-quality food which is affordable and delicious without destroying the environment.
By now, we must all surely be aware of the single-use plastics problem that is destroying our marine-life. Adding chemicals and hormone mimicking elements into our water and food supplies, and that develops into micro-plastics that enter our food chain and into our gut. Cancer-causing plastic, single-use plastic and all plastic pollutants are banned at StreetCube. We do will never use plastic for the service of food.
StreetCube can carry out a basic or more in-depth analysis of any location. Weighing up footfall, demographics and the local food supply to put together a custom-built, affordable solution to help reduce our enormous NHS / Health system costs. We also help to generate public awareness on healthy diets, improved local economy, and better training for chefs and producers. Please contact us for more information.
StreetCube Development chefs have the innovation, experience and know-how to improve and perfect delicious recipes that focus on the indigenous harvest. We take the seeding and harvesting planner approach to devising the optimum menus and food ideas. Combining the chefs individual creative character with the local food larder, to help develop the very best in local, seasonal, organic, sustainable Street Gastronomy. Contact Us for more information.
