Food waste not only burns a hole in your wallet but also causes massive environmental damage on multiple levels, while about 25% of food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost annually, which would be enough to feed 3 billion people.

Instead, 1.3 billion tons of waste end up in landfills every year, producing large amounts of methane and contributing roughly 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, besides also flushing a quarter of our freshwater supply down the drain in the form of uneaten food.

Restaurants are hotspots for managing food, and Joe Bohan and his wife, Margaret, were determined to do things differently when they opened   in 2012 to offer diners a culinary experience that celebrates the very best of locally sourced produce in the heart of Galway.

Joe and Margaret Bohan, Founders of Dela Restaurant 

With a strong background in hospitality, they aimed to create a system that was more in sync with nature, appreciated resources, and embraced organic farming in a way that simultaneously benefitted both business and nature.

They have come a long way since opening, earning a reputation for pushing the boundaries of sustainable dining by creating a farm-to-fable-to-farm system with zero-waste at heart, merging innovative kitchen technologies with following the production cycle of the restaurant`s own farm.

“Our aim is to eliminate all food waste from our restaurant and, in turn, use this as our main source of compost on our farm – thereby completing our farm–restaurant circle. Anything that cannot be used or preserved is composted,” Joe explains. Currently, they aim to take 400 litres of kitchen waste from the restaurant to their farm weekly, which would otherwise be sent to the local waste contractors.

At Dela, the thoughtfully crafted menu changes weekly based on what each season has to offer, “championing all that nature supplies and ensuring it is used sustainably and to its full capacity”, as Head Chef Shannon Di Cola Schiano describes their approach.

Joe adds that their selections are planned around what they can grow at   ‘commercial level’ on the farm: “Most of the vegetable growing curve is bell-shaped, so one week you are making ten cucumbers stretch across the menu, the next it could be 40 – thus, preserving, fermenting, and freezing is critical to flattening that supply curve across the seasons.”

For instance, the Autumn menu invites guests to explore combinations like Joe’s roast heirloom tomato and courgette barley risotto with basil oil and crisp free-range egg or charred aubergine with spaghetti squash, organic white hummus, rainbow chard, and homemade flatbreads.
In addition to their own organic production, they use a rotating selection of locally sourced seasonal game and fish to create diverse and unforgettable culinary experiences.

Chef Shannon shares that fermentation and preservation, combined with Dela’s recent investment in commercial composting equipment, allowed them to offer a “farm to your plate” approach where “every step of the process is focused on ensuring quality, freshness, and minimal waste.”
The Dela Farm in Moycullen is located only 10km from the restaurant, and with a recent 3,000-square-foot Polytunnel addition, it presents the perfect opportunity to provide organic ingredients for conscientious cookery with a low-emission logistic route.

Moreover, Joe shares that they created a unique “seed to feed” system, meaning that all of their vegetables are started from seed and, where possible, saved from the previous year, so they don’t buy any seedlings. However, he admits that “to work chemical-free, you need a lot of hands” and more time, which raises production costs and restricts what they can do capacity-wise. On the other hand, he also feels that “farming is a lot of little moments of purpose throughout the day” and that it is “nice to feel you are working with a sense of purpose”.

Their unwavering commitment to sustainable and zero-waste production is reflected in their latest expansion of importing coffee beans directly from farmers, freshly roasted weekly on-site while ensuring that every bit is used to its full extent. Joe highlights, “All waste generated from the roasting process is immediately composted and spread on our farm, as is all waste from brewing coffee in the restaurant. It would be hard to find a more environmentally friendly cup of coffee in town.”

Dela means to share, and as Joe reflects on their journey full of learning curves, he envisions sharing not just the food they produce but also their experiences in sustainable farming. “We would like to create a hub on our farm where people can come to see how easy it is to start growing. We have no background in farming, and I actually have never set foot on another farm. Nearly ten years later, it demonstrates that anyone can do
this and should.”