Beyond Food
Culture is a vital part of sustainability, and food is one of its most powerful caretakers.
Culture, like the environment, needs care if it is to survive and to support a truly wholesome vision of sustainability. In simple terms, cultural sustainability means keeping the meaningful parts of who we are alive, so they can continue to nourish us - our identity, our sense of belonging - and those who come after us.
Hosting my Supper Clubs has shown me again and again how powerful this is: strangers arriving alone or with loved ones, tasting flavours that carry centuries of stories, and leaving the table with new memories, feeling more connected not only to each other but to the world. Some find a fleeting moment of comfort; others leave with lifelong friends. Always, they leave with a story.
For me, this is what lies beyond food: a way of keeping culture alive, building community, nourishing both people and the planet with care, and shining a warm light on the side of sustainability that lives quietly in our kitchens, our memories, and our shared tables.
We are living in a world where paying attention to sustainability is no longer optional, it is essential, and in many ways overdue. Sustainability touches everything: the food we eat, the cultures we pass down, the communities we build, and the planet we all share.
In my small corner of this wider picture, the work begins in the kitchen. Choosing ingredients with care, embracing the seasons and what they offer, minimising waste, supporting local makers, honouring the traditions that shaped me, and bringing people together around the table - all become gentle meeting points between personal values and a wider purpose.
My connection with food goes beyond taste or nourishment; it’s always been a way of giving and receiving love especially in moments where words fall short. As immigrants, it often becomes our first language in a new land. We introduce ourselves through what we cook. We welcome others in. We bridge distances without speaking.
In a recent survey I conducted, one responder shared something that has stayed with me ever since: “They say maths is the common language of the universe. I think there’s a strong argument that food is the common language of humanity.”
I couldn’t agree more. (You can still take the survey if you like - your reflections help shape future gatherings.)
As I stepped into the world of cooking and began hosting my Persian Supper Club events, my understanding deepened: food sustains far more than appetite, it sustains connection. Food carries culture, memory, identity and belonging. Every time we cook, share, taste, or listen to the story behind a dish, we keep those parts of ourselves alive.
Brillat-Savarin once wrote, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”
Food quietly reflects our stories - the places we come from, the hands that taught us, the values we carry, and the communities we build.
The more I hosted Supper Clubs, the clearer it became that sharing food is an act of cultural sustainability. Not in a formal or academic sense, but in a gentle, everyday, human way. When someone tastes a dish, hears its story, learns a tradition, or discovers an ingredient that has travelled across generations, something beautiful happens - a small spark of that culture is passed on and continues its journey forward. In these moments, a meal becomes more than food, it becomes a shared story.
