An Airline Is Starting To Serve Sustainably Sourced In-Flight Meals That Are Actually Good
Singapore Airlines wants to start feeding passengers food grown locally in the countries they fly to, as a way to make flying more sustainable—and delicious.
Updated May 26 2019, 2:08 p.m. ET
If you actually manage to get a meal on your flight, airplane food is known to be pretty terrible. Most flights satisfy their snack obligations with 2 ounces of pretzels and a sip of water, if you're lucky. But one airline is trying to make in-flight meals a thing again by propelling themselves into the 21st century. Singapore Airlines is now offering sustainably sourced food, according to The Independent. Senior vice president of products and services, Marvin Tan, said in a statement, that the new menu reflects a desire to be more sustainable within their industry overall.
“Our food and beverage sustainability efforts will further demonstrate and reinforce Singapore Airlines’ ongoing efforts to help reduce our carbon footprint and ensure a greener environment,” said Tan. “While we continue to deliver a quality in-flight dining experience, we would also like our customers to know that we are playing our part in ensuring sustainability.”
This "farm-to-plane" methodology is still a bit vague on details, but the fish provided in their meals will be sourced from places vetted by the Marine Stewardship Council for sustainable fishing practices, while produce will be sourced from local farms in the countries Singapore Airlines flies to. That includes things like cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, green beans and lettuce. Sounds like a pretty healthy dinner to have on an airplane, though fish has the potential to be a little unpleasant while riding in an enclosed metal tube soaring through the air.
Meals will be available on only selected routes that have a first class section starting later this year, then they'll eventually be extended to all passengers. Hopefully, that won't cause any conflict on board. It's hard to say how much of an actual effect this will have on Singapore Airlines carbon footprint, if any, but it's rare that airlines try to model green living. Besides, if anything can make airline food delicious, it's fresh local produce.