We Took the Taste Cadets to Wales For Our New Climate-Focused Series, ‘Grounded’

The self-confessed jet-setters have built a following from documenting their travels online. In our new series, Grounded, we unpack how they can travel more sustainably and help save the planet.

Earth Day takes place annually on 22 April, and for this year’s edition we set out to explore how we can travel more responsibly while keeping the planet’s rapidly-changing climate in mind. To do this, we partnered with BBC Studios Natural History Unit to produce the eye-opening series Grounded, featuring the global travellers Taste Cadets.

The climate crisis can no longer be ignored, and its devastating consequences have already been triggered by our impact on the natural world. Glaciers are melting; the temperature is rising; tropical storms are intensifying while droughts are worsening. The planet’s delicate ecosystems are edging towards collapse, and we have one generation left to solve this global crisis.

The effects of our footprint was visibly demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, when countries went into lockdown. During this pause, the natural world was given the chance to recover. The waters of Venice became clear and wildlife returned to their natural habitat. The Himalayas became visible to people in India for the first time in 30 years again after levels of air pollution decreased. However, climate emissions are, once again, on the rise.

Though the environmental revolution has picked up pace in the past few years, more needs to be done. Most of us aren't aware of how we can reduce our personal impact on the planet or make meaningful changes. In our The Future of Travel report, we surveyed 521 creatives within our global millennial and Gen-Z community and found that 43 percent felt helpless about travel and its effect on the planet; 32.6 percent thought travelling sustainably was too expensive. The eco-anxiety is real, but many of us don’t know how to take effective individual action.

Enter Taste Cadets. The trio – made up of Kieran Cavanagh, Marcus Adams and Allan ‘Seapa’ Mustafa of People Just Do Nothing – have built a dedicated online following from documenting their trips around the world. Whilst sampling various cuisines from different cultures, their unique alchemy and sense of friendship have earned them a loyal fanbase. However, the self-confessed jet-setters don’t know much about the climate crisis or understand their own carbon footprint. “I know you're supposed to feel bad about it but that's the only thing I've got,” Kieran confesses.

“I need to learn about it before I can actually do anything about it,” Marcus adds. “We're basically on the edge of doing irreversible damage, or we already have done. So it’s pretty peak basically.”

Allan chimes in, “We don't know too much.”

It’s time the travel and food trio got educated. For our new series Grounded we take the Taste Cadets on a trip to Wales, where they receive a thorough education on how they can reduce their footprint and help play a part in saving the planet. From the lowdown on the aviation industry to seaweed farms, together the three friends embark on a life-changing journey to discover how they can travel more sustainably. Watch Grounded in the player above and read on for more in-depth information on how you, too, can incorporate eco-friendly measures into your journeys.

What you eat makes a difference

Did you know that your diet has an impact on the climate? The impact of the consumption of animal products is 10 to 50 times larger than plant-based foods. Therefore, one key actionable change we can make in our lives is to reduce the amount of meat we buy and consume. A scientifically healthy diet is made up of modest amounts of meat and dairy, alongside unsaturated plant oils, whole grains and plant proteins. This should make up one half of our diet, with the other comprising fruits and vegetables.

Secondly, eating locally sourced food makes a difference. Three billion tonnes of CO2 is produced from the transportation of food, and overall that’s six percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. This measure of transportation is known as food miles. Shortening your food miles is one way of decreasing your individual contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. When sampling local cuisines on your travels, consider making an informed decision to eat at places that source their ingredients locally. Or if you’re creating your own dishes, growing your food involves no food miles at all, and the produce will decrease levels of carbon in your environment. Switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet will reduce your carbon footprint more.

In Grounded, we introduce Taste Cadets to Chris Roberts of Crashpad Lodges, a chef who cooks them a Snowdownia mountain lamb shoulder smoked with juniper and chilli sauce, and served with burnt leeks. The shoulder came from a butcher who lives a mile down the road, and the entire meal was locally sourced. A vegan and vegetarian diet is best for the environment, but, as Allan learns, "You don't need to completely give up meat to help save the planet, but it's important to consider the impact of eating sustainably and locally sourced meat.”

He adds, “I've always been conscious – well, not always, in the last few years – of what I put in my body from a health perspective, but not really from an environment perspective.”

“We always want to eat local for taste but never understand the responsibility of it.”

Another key tenet of sustainable eating is food waste. Due to the amount of land, water and energy used to produce food, global food waste makes up 10 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. We can all take part in reducing these emissions by wasting less food and being more savvy with what we purchase.

The benefits of seaweed

The oceans and seas have been decimated for hundreds of years, and seaweed could be a potent tool in reversing these damages. Not only is it a superfood packed with nutrients and antioxidants but, as a plant, it takes carbon from the atmosphere and provides energy and shelter to marine species. There are thousands of different types of seaweed around the world, and Japan has developed cutting-edge technology around the use of this particular plant to cleanse the ocean. The UK is currently experimenting with seaweed farms, claiming these could solve climate problems for the country in the future.

In Grounded, Taste Cadets meet Craig Evans, who organises foraging courses across the West Wales coast. Sampling onion, garlic and truffle-flavoured seaweed, the trio learn that the area is a seaweed and biodiversity hotspot. The food aficionados also meet Jonathan Williams, owner of the Pembrokeshire restaurant The Old Point House. “Rather than planting trees on land we're hoping to start planting trees at sea,” Jonathan explains. “You'd only need two percent of the world's oceans, [seaweed] would absorb the whole world's carbon. Up to 30 to 40 percent could be protein. Gram for gram that’s more than tuna, more than chicken. So it’s a protein source.”

How can seaweed be incorporated into our lives more? Hit play on the video above and watch the Taste Cadets try a twist on a local Welsh dish, marrying seaweed with kimchi and mixing it into a pasta recipe.

Reduce aviation travel

“Flights aren't the best thing for the environment,” Allan says, “so we're swerving it completely on this trip. And, to be honest, it worked out for the best.” For their journey to Wales, Taste Cadets are given the challenge of navigating their way via public transport. From a train to Crewe through Bangor via Chester, a bus to Llanberis and an e-bike ride once there, the Cadets are challenged to change their mindset about travel.

In our The Future of Travel report, we found that one passenger’s share of emissions on a 2,500-mile flight melts a square foot of Arctic summer sea ice cover. A long-haul return flight from London to areas such as New York, Perth and Los Angeles emits more energy than the amount citizens of some countries do in a year. The aviation industry is responsible for around five percent of the climate crisis, so reducing air travel is one actionable change you can make in our lives.

Furthermore, the super-emitters are not those who embark on long-haul flights but use aviation travel for shorter, but more, journeys; namely, weekend getaways. Consider cutting down on aviation travel and embarking on a ‘fly diet’ instead. “If we carry on the way we’re carrying on then [nature] won't be there anymore. We won’t be able to come enjoy these holidays,” Kieran reflects. “Most of the fun I’m having is actually the travel.”

Changing the way we think about aviation travel to destination holidays would only benefit the planet. Instead of jet-setting around the world, prioritise local travel and longer, immersive stays in a destination. Spending more time in a destination can also be more culturally enriching, allowing you to learn more about the area and its communities.

There are certainly areas for improvement in non-aviation transportation too. More fundamentally, governments and the travel industry should be implementing infrastructural changes to enable people to reduce their carbon emissions. In the meantime, there are some actionable methods you can take on too. Sharing car journeys, for example, reduces the amount of trips that are taken on a daily basis, and upgrading to an electric car is more energy efficient. Public transport is more environmentally friendly in comparison to individual trips, but, overall the greenest way to travel is by foot – followed by cycling, e-bikes and e-scooters.

“I was doing things out there I would never do on a normal bike,” Kieran says proudly on their e-bike ride to Llanberis. “[Wales has been a] pretty sick trip in the sense of opening our eyes,” Marcus ponders, “making us more aware and responsible moving forward.”