Dan Barber: An interview on WastED London and the future of food culture

Celebrated chef Dan Barber took his WastED (“waste education”) project to Selfridges in London for a five-week pop-up, starting on 24^th February. We talked with him about the future of food culture, the definition of waste and how the opening service with guest chef Alain Ducasse went.

Barber’s work on the project began with simple questions: how to make the most of the juice craze in London – using the leftover fibre – and the “byproduct” of UK dairy farms – male calves, shot at birth because there’s no market for them.

Bubble and squeak, shepherd’s pie, blood sausage, haggis, marmite: the Blue Hill at Stone Barns chef reminds us that these are dishes and products based on traditional waste, just we don’t call them waste. The challenge, in fact, is creating a culture around waste; unused veal, for instance, is so much it could be made into a fast food item – that’s why on the menu it is in the form of McNuggets, to show its potential.

Filippo L’Astorina
Video: Laura Denti