An event at Mission Kitchen in June invited a diverse panel of expert speakers to talk about and debate the future for fat. It’s present in practically every kitchen, but is it bad, good, ugly, tasty, a nutrient, an ingredient or an insult?

Fat is a building block of flavour, but still widely misunderstood. The full-day symposium of talks, workshops and eating experiences, brought together food founders, chefs, innovators, and pioneers under one roof to discover the new ideas that will transform how we consume and think it.

The event introduced the latest game-changers in fat-based technologies and allowed attendees to learn from chefs and tastemakers on why fat is a key component of all things delicious, as well as widening the discussion to what fat does to our brains, bodies, body image, and our landscapes.

Amy Win, Mission Kitchen’s Community Manager, said: “To me, fat is what makes food truly glorious, a religious experience. But with the good comes the bad - the guilt of overindulgence (an occupational hazard working in my job), impact on health, environmental degradation, animal welfare…. to name just a handful of big topics we discussed that are influenced by fat production consumption.

“As my colleagues can attest, fat has been my obsession over the past few months whilst putting the event together!” Amy admitted. “It was awesome learning so much about the subject - the convergence of cooking, eating, sustainability, and how we will shape the future of food are all the things we should be thinking about as food industry people.

“Thank you to all that came along, in particular the speakers who are doing incredibly inspirational and innovative things to make our food system better, tastier and healthier for all. We are honoured you spent the day with us!”