Knorr, Unilever’s largest food brand, has teamed up with Hasbro Inc.’s MR. POTATO HEAD, the world’s most famous vegetable icon, to inspire everyone to change the world by changing what’s on their plates. The unlikely duo will join leading chefs and food influencers worldwide, including Netflix’s Restaurants on the Edge chef Dennis Prescott, Lorna Maseko, J Something, Mpummy Ledwaba, Chef Lesego, Sarah Graham and many more in asking everyone to swap at least one ingredient in their routine meals for a Future 50 Food starting on World Eat for Good Day (19 February).
Future 50 Foods developed by Knorr and WWF, are 50 foods that we should all eat more of because they are naturally nutritious, have a lower impact on our planet than animal-based foods, and can help safeguard the future of our food.
To mark the occasion, MR. POTATO HEAD will make a change to his iconic outfit and dress up as a Cilembu sweet potato. His costume swap into this Future 50 Food shows people everywhere how easy it is to make a change on their plate that is good for their health and the planet.
Mealtime monotony is a global issue: 75% of the global food supply comes from only 12 plant and five animal species. Just three (rice, maize, wheat) make up nearly 60% of calories from plants in the entire human diet despite there being 50,000 edible plants species. This not only bores our palates but excludes many valuable sources of nutrition while taking excessive amount of resource from the planet and harming the precious soil.
This is why on World Eat for Good Day, Knorr is using its flavour expertise to inspire people around the world to swap at least one ingredient to diversify their dish, which not only helps to beat mealtime boredom, but increases the nutritional value and lowers the environmental impact of the meal.
Try these tasty Future 50 Foods swaps to liven up your plate and your palate:
- Swap rice for quinoa to get three times more fibre, plus a source of magnesium and folate, while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 50% and reducing water use by up to 90% compared to white rice (when grown).
Recommended recipe: Zesty Chicken, Quinoa And Kale Salad
- Swap beef for lentils to get 10 times more fibre and no saturated fat, while emitting approximately 80% less greenhouse gases than ground beef. If you prepare this meal once a month for one year (using lentils instead beef), you save approximately 25kg of greenhouse gases
Recommended recipe: Spicy Lentil and Sweet Potato Dhal
- Swap potatoes for a scrumptious Cilembu sweet potato to get three times more vitamin C and calcium than other potato varieties. Cilembu sweet potatoes have a sweet, honey-like flavour and are native to Indonesia. Eating more varieties of similar foods helps make the food system more resilient while providing more nutrients.
Recommended recipe: Pumpkin, Sweet Potato & Beans
“Most of us believe our energy or transport choices cause the most serious environmental damage. In fact, it’s our food system that creates the biggest impact,” as quoted in Knorr and WWF’s Future 50 Foods report. Knorr is committed to getting food that is good for people and the planet on seven billion plates via Future 50 Foods with the 19th February as a milestone toward this ambition.
Knorr is passionate about flavour and uses its expertise to unlock the fabulous flavours needed to make naturally nutritious foods taste great through its products, recipes and tips. To join the movement to Eat for Good, visit knorreatforgood.com. Here you’ll find a wealth of tips and delicious recipes to inspire you #eatforgood on World Eat For Good Day and beyond.