So we had another successful edition of 'Taste of Amsterdam' - a local outdoor food fair where you get to sample various signature dish from high end restaurants in Amsterdam. Like every year, it is held in the Amstel Park and this year, we were lucky. The Sun God had shined his rays over The Netherlands, making this weekend a really nice day to be sitting outdoors, sipping champagne and general in a mood to spend money.

I think this is also a great initiative to allow small food vendors to establish themselves. Amsterdam is starting to become an international hub for the modern European kitchen.

Yet I walked away from yesterday's event feeling very disturbed. At the central stage where workshops and demonstrations were organised, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and butternut squash were used as decorations, under the tables and on the floor. I wondered if they will collect the onions and tomatoes at the end of the fair and actually cook with it. Seeing the kids and other visitors stepping on food that is lying in the dirt is revolting. On one hand, the organisers have converted all the cutlery into bio-degradable material instead of using plastic, on the other hand, we are literally wasting food.


I started to wonder how much food we are actually wasting in our daily routine. When you order coffee in a cafe, they usually give you a packet of sugar. If you don't use it, do the waiters throw it away along with the other trash that you leave behind or do they recycle it? Every few weeks I buy a pack of mushrooms then I have to throw one or two away after two weeks as I don't plan my meals well and the poor things died in my fridge.

I am just as guilty as the organisers of Taste of Amsterdam. Shouldn't we put in a bigger effort to walk the talk? If we leave a pot of sugar on the table instead of prepacked sugar would that solve the problem? If I just plan ahead what I will cook and eat for the week, perhaps I wouldn't throw food away. So why aren't we doing it all the time?