What exactly IS Vegan Compleating?

To put it into perspective, 70% of food waste comes from our homes, but 70% of food that’s wasted could actually have been eaten. Environmental issues can seem so huge and overwhelming, but food waste is something we can all start to reduce, right from the comfort of our kitchens.

Ellen Tout - sustainability expert, dedicated vegan and author of the recent release ‘The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating’ talks to us about true zero-waste eating.

Over a year, the UK’s edible food waste would make the equivalent of over 15 billion meals – enough to feed the entire population three meals a day for 11 weeks. Meanwhile, three billion people around the world are unable to afford a healthy diet.

What is ‘Vegan Compleating’?

Compleating means ‘completely eating’ – so eating all edible parts of fruits, vegetables and herbs. There are so many parts of produce that we discard without really thinking, but many of them are edible, tasty and nutrient-rich. It’s a great way to reduce food waste and also make your cooking a bit more creative. I first discovered compleating one Halloween when looking for ways to make the most of a pumpkin. I cooked things like paprika roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin peel crisps and soup from the unloved pumpkin guts from carving. I realised that I could apply this same compleating ethos to every fruit and vegetable I cooked and soon became a passionate really passionate about it.

My debut book is out now: The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating:

An A–Z of Zero-Waste Eating For the Mindful Vegan. As I learned more about compleating, I tried to find books to give me inspiration and recipes. Unfortunately, all books about food waste included meat and dairy. I realised that if I wanted a book like this, I was going to be the one to write it! My book includes recipes, advice, storage and preservation tips for making the most of every part of every fruit, vegetable, herb and ingredient found in a vegan kitchen.

Some of my recipes are ‘compleat’, meaning that they use the entire fruit or vegetable. Such as a tabbouleh which uses the carrots and carrot tops. Or my onion skin-infused focaccia recipe, topped with caramelised red onions. I also use some of the less common parts by themselves to create recipes. My BBQ pulled banana peel recipe has been really popular. Then there’s recipes using things like cauliflower leaves, broccoli stalks, onion skins, vegetable peelings, aquafaba, vegetable tops, fruit cores and more. So many of these make really delicious meals but are often overlooked or considered waste.

It’s hard to choose a favourite! I didn’t previously know that kiwi skins are edible, so creating a whole baked kiwi salsa was great. My favourite might have to be my roasted butternut squash and sage ravioli. I’ve seen lots of recipes which use aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas), so in my recipe the ravioli pasta dough is made using aquafaba rather than eggs. It’s quite simple to make but looks really impressive.

Food Waste & The Environment

Food waste is responsible for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than all commercial flights, but I don’t think enough people are aware of the role food waste plays in the climate crisis. When food waste goes to landfill, it can’t break down naturally and releases methane. There are also emissions from refuse trucks to take into account, as well as the energy and resources from growing, packaging and transporting the food.

To put it into perspective, 70% of food waste comes from our homes, but 70% of food that’s wasted could actually have been eaten. Environmental issues can seem so huge and overwhelming, but food waste is something we can all start to reduce, right from the comfort of our kitchens.

Lost Connections

It feels like, with our busy, modern lives, we’ve lost that connection with where our food comes from, with how it’s grown, and the time, effort and resources that go into it. Many of us are so used to just popping to the supermarket and grabbing what we want. I think that the food shortages and demand on food banks during the pandemic has made us think a bit more about this, but there’s still not enough being done. Over a year, the UK’s edible food waste would make the equivalent of over 15 billion meals – enough to feed the entire population three meals a day for 11 weeks. Meanwhile, three billion people around the world are unable to afford a healthy diet.

What We Can Do

I think that raising awareness of the impact of food waste is key, as well as showing people how they can start making changes. My book and the idea of compleating are a positive way to make a difference. I love to cook and I hope that, because cooking can

be fun, that it gives people an inspiring way to reduce their food waste, rather than it feeling like a burden or chore. I also think that the government needs to take more responsibility and tell the truth about the role our food and agriculture plays in emissions.

Other Sustainability Experts

There are so many brilliant people and companies trying to make a difference to food waste. I love following Laura Gaga, aka Reduction Raider, who creates meals from reduced yellow sticker or unwanted food. I’m also a big fan of the apps Too Good To Go and OLIO, which are a great way to rescue unwanted food from local people, restaurants and businesses, as well as Oddbox, which rescues wonky or surplus food from farmers.

My book, The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating: An A-Z of Zero-Waste Eating For the Mindful Vegan, is out now and available from all the usual places. If you would like a copy, please consider buying via Bookshop. org, which helps support independent booksellers. I’m speaking at lots of different virtual and in-person events. I hope to work with Vegfest soon and to continue to partner with my local Kent Vegan Events.

You can follow me on Instagram @ellen_tout and @compleatly_vegan and on Twitter @ Ellen_Tout.

Ellen Tout

Sustainability Expert & Author of ‘The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating’