This "earth-conscious" young chef is doing her bit to fight climate change with a new sustainable meals service.
Chef Chiara Tomasoni hopes her private catering business will soon become carbon neutral – even though a large selling point of the service is its delivery service.
Chiara, originally from Italy but now living in Eastbourne, initially began her delivery service despite not having a car.
Now, the 22-year-old hopes to offset her carbon emissions through planting trees, while maintaining a low-waste ethos.
“I would get the shopping delivered, then walk it to people’s houses,” said Chiara.
“It seems like ages ago, but it was only three years ago – I was only 19.
“Ultimately, it would be lovely to find an alternative to driving around, because that’s not very eco-friendly.
“I try to offset it in many different ways, but obviously for the whole business to be carbon neutral would be incredible. I’m going to keep striving for eco-friendliness and for my business to be as sustainable as possible.”
Chiara began preparing meals for her friends in university, but quickly discovered the wider appeal in her work.
She now runs pop-up kitchens in cafes across Sussex, even offering a private catering in customer’s homes, all while contributing to foodbanks.
“I design recipe cards for Brighton and Eastbourne food banks for dishes that can be prepared with just tinned ingredients,” added Chiara.
“They are handed out in each food parcel so the recipients can make hearty and wholesome family meals out of basic ingredients without feeling like they're missing out.
“It was more of a hobby, but as I gradually started realising that it had a lot of potential, I started to want to do it more and more.
“My goal in ten years would be to have a semi-derelict barn in the forest with a commercial kitchen, a big, long table where we could have supper clubs.”
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All four of the chef’s supper clubs have been entirely sold out, and proved extremely popular among vegans and meat-eaters alike.
Chiara’s next event is a tofu and seitan making masterclass at the Lewes Community Kitchen.
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