Oman Tourism College, in partnership with the Origin Oman campaign, is set to host a ‘150 Kilometre Meal’.

The event is one of the many initiatives that make up this year’s Origin Oman campaign, the organisers said in a statement.

“When the average Oman based citizen sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 kilometres” says Ibtisam Al Faruji of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) and the woman spearheading the recently-launched Origin Oman campaign. 

“Our local products are excellent and we want to get people putting them on their plates on a more regular basis. Our goal is simple, we want to raise public awareness of locally produced food as well as highlight the environmental impact of transporting food long distances. It just makes sense,” she adds.

The goal of the event, to be held on May 25 and 26, is “to stick to ingredients grown or made within 150 kilometres of the College,” says Dietrich Repolusk, lecturer in Nutrition and International Cuisine at the college and the man responsible for planning the dinner menu along with his Omani students.

”We fully expect a sell out crowd of 60 diners each night who will feast on a meal featuring locally sourced ingredients,” said Repolusk.

Repolusk, an Austrian national who has been in the food and travel business for over 30 years and is an accomplished chef said: “I’m passionate about locally grown food. Eating closer to home is both safer and healthier. Food is a living, breathing entity and the fresher the food, the better it is for you.”

“If people made the effort to make even 10% of their diet local, it would have a huge impact on the environment, the domestic economy and our communities,' said Repolusk.

“Eating local isn't just about health,” he said. “It’s also about quality. I recently had the greatest local tomatoes. They were so unbelievably sweet and delicious. Better still they didn't sit on a truck for three weeks, frozen. And as for Omani honey and the fruit from Jebel Akhdar, well, they’re exceptional.” – TradeArabia News Service