UWL’s London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism (LGCHT) recently hosted Future Plates, Future Chefs, a vibrant event exploring how food, culture and creativity can help build healthier, more sustainable communities.
The event formed part of the Planetary Foods and Cultural Competence Project, bringing together Ealing residents, health professionals, community groups, students and food-sector partners to re-imagine how traditional diets can support both human health and the planet.
A community-led approach
Led locally by the Healthier Lifestyle Service at West London NHS Trust, with support from Ealing Council and the Ealing Food Partnership, the project is developing a community-focused cookbook.
This initiative celebrates Ealing’s rich cultural diversity while showing how familiar recipes can be adapted in ways that are healthier, culturally meaningful and more environmentally sustainable.
Showcasing diverse and innovative dishes
Ealing residents were at the heart of the event, demonstrating dishes developed through the project, including Super summer salad, Goan cucumber cake, Butternut squash masala and Spiced couscous.
The event also featured live demonstrations from Jenny Chandler, working with the Humane Society, who presented an emmer wheat pilau with zhoug, and Senior Lecturer Nathan Vasanthan, who showcased a Jerusalem artichoke and potato croquette with kattu sambal rouille.
To round off the day, Team Lexington presented their latest food concepts, showing how tasty, nutritious and sustainable food can be delivered in practice.
Voices from the project
Rosanna Jones, Health Improvement Practitioner at West London NHS Trust, said:
“At West London, we’re working with communities in Ealing to ensure that cultural food heritage and sustainable, culturally relevant, health-promoting diets can exist side by side.”
Abbie Pascoe-Apaw, from the Ealing Food Partnership, added:
“We want everyone in Ealing to know that eating sustainably doesn’t mean giving up your traditional recipes. You can keep your cultural traditions and simply adapt them to be healthier for you and better for the planet.”
Peter Cross, Senior Lecturer at LGCHT, said:
“Future Plates, Future Chefs has provided a valuable opportunity to connect student learning with applied public health, sustainability and community engagement. By working with residents, health partners and local organisations, students have been able to consider how food-based interventions can be developed in ways that are culturally relevant, practical and sensitive to local needs.”
The event demonstrated how universities, health services and community organisations can work together to support healthier, more sustainable food systems at a local level.