Picture this…You sit down to a meal served on fine china, a fancy dessert on a beautiful raised plate sits before you as the crowning jewel in the centerpiece. A waiter asks if he can pour you some fresh water before your first course of a fresh local, organic salad arrives.
Enjoy. You are experiencing a “sustainable meal.” The food is fresh and healthy and the service is exceptional. It is nurturing to your body and to the environment.
We are often asked, “What does sustainable food look like?” You will be pleased to know that my answer is not raw vegetables served on a burlap bag. The CIC Green Meetings Report outlines guidelines for sustainable food and beverage.
Following are the guidelines and some elaboration on each one:
- Local, seasonal and organic: Food should preferably meet all three of these criteria, but sometimes this is not possible when feeding large numbers of guests.
If not, my first choice would be to serve local food that comes from within 100 miles of the venue. (This would automatically require it to be seasonal as well.) Ingredients for the average American meal are shipped over 1,500 miles, losing freshness and vitamins with each mile and increasing the carbon footprint.
Organic food that has not been sprayed with pesticides is also vitally important but may not be available locally.
- Sustainable seafood: Make sure the fish you choose has not been over-fished and comes from a sustainable source.
A great way to make sure you make the right choice is to use the Seafood Guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org).
- Vegetarian options: At a minimum, allow guests to make vegetarian requests. Additionally, you may want to choose one or two meals to be completely vegetarian. Work with the chef to develop good, high-protein menu options; they are usually more creative and less expensive.
- Reusable serviceware, linens and decorations: Simply put, no disposables. But isn’t that really what first-class service is? Who wants to drink from a foam cup and eat on a plastic plate with a plastic fork when one could be dining on fine china and using silver cutlery? Decorations should also be either edible or reusable.
- Biodegradable/compostable products: When it is not possible to use china and silver—as in the case of the Live Earth Concert our firm “greened” in Giants Stadium last year—biodegradable/compostable products should be used and then composted.
With over 51,000 screaming fans needing food and beverage, the best option for Giants Stadium was to go to compostable products. The caterer used compostable containers for the pizza, nachos, hot dogs, and concession food served.
Over 76 percent of the waste was diverted from the landfill and either composted or recycled!
- Bulk food and beverage: Whenever possible, serve in bulk. Serving water in large containers instead of individual bottles saved one conference over $50,000—not to mention the amount of plastic. Serve condiments such as cream, sugar, mustard, etc., in bulk as well.
Caterers report a 50 percent to 62 percent savings after investing in bulk containers.
- Food donation: Make sure to donate all leftover food to a local food bank. If liability is your concern, there are federal and regional “good samaritan” acts that hold the meeting planner and organization harmless.
Second Harvest (www.secondharvest.org) can help you find a local food bank if your caterer doesn’t already have a connection.
Guests are becoming increasingly concerned about their health and are asking for healthy alternatives when attending meetings. This is really what sustainable food is about—the health of our bodies and the health of the planet.
And when you add first-class, sustainable service, you can’t go wrong!
