Culinary Education for Sustainable Development in Germany—The Example of Sous Vide

Within modern culinary education, education on sustainable development is essential for vocational students. Using the example of sous vide, its suitability for addressing sustainability in culinary education was investigated as well as the extent to which it is currently implemented in Germany. Therefore, the literature on potential environmental, social, economic and health impacts of sous vide was reviewed and its current implementation in German culinary educational materials was analyzed. The literature review revealed a number of sustainability aspects of sous vide. Despite being covered in textbooks, it is not brought into a sustainability context. Moreover, existing sustainability concepts for the gastronomy sector neither identify environmental conditions as a basic requirement for any socio-economic activity nor illustrate interdependencies and trade-offs between different sustainability dimensions. Therefore, the sustainability concepts and culinary teaching and training materials currently used in German culinary schools do not support the development of a systemic understanding and multi-dimensional engagement in the training of future chefs.