Chef Perspective – Greening Up The Kitchen
April 2008
No doubt from a consumer standpoint, “green” is the new black. Local, organic, all-natural, sustainable, seasonal, carbon footprint, food miles; all of these terms are becoming household words. Food professionals are responsible for this change, and those who are deeply committed forge ahead to become leaders in the community.
“Changing a kitchen system is difficult if you have been doing the same thing since day one”, says Chef Michael Tuohy of Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill. “A chef has to really be committed to enforce new rules in the restaurant once (environmental) changes are put into place.” Changes like switching to environmentally friendly cleansers or separating garbage and researching bio-degradable take-out containers all take time and energy-something that a chef or restaurant manager is short on. Michael continues, “Yes, it takes time and effort. Really, the long-term benefits do begin to shine through. My research became sort of an obsession and now, in addition to running the restaurant, I started a blog that gives me a forum to share some of what I have learned. (http//michaeltuohy.typepad.com) Everything is easier when there is a shared knowledge base and a network of support.” Sustainability is all about just that-support. To “sustain” means to hold up and support. Greening up the kitchen seems daunting because of the enormity of taking on the task but really the baby steps are the most important and make the most impact. A chef deciding to start buying even a few things produced locally begins a cycle of support. The menu gets a boost by boasting products that are made or grown within a short distance. The food is fresh and there is a local name attached to the product. Producers are then able to start their own network of business, and that swell in local community increases what they make to support their farm. Jobs sustain the local economy, the producer gets a better rate per unit and the buyer gets a great product that tells a story.
Michael Tuohy, of Woodfire Grill and Gina Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene both sit on the board of Georgia Organics, a non-profit organization that strives to integrate organic, local and sustainable food into the lives of all Georgians.
“Being concerned about environmental issues in the kitchen makes dollars and cents sense.” says long-time restaurateur and now the “green developer” of Palmetto, Georgia’s Serenbe Community, Steve Nygren. “Lots of folks look at what we did by building the Blue-Eyed Daisy Bakeshop building as a LEED (Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design) certified structure and say, ‘well that’s easy to do when you have some money to sink into a brand new building’–and they are right but we have two other restaurants at Serenbe. We didn’t go through the certification with them but we took what we learned and applied it to The Farmhouse and The Hil. Little things like installing low-flow nozzles on bathroom sinks and low flow toilets make a huge difference when you look at the savings over time. When you throw in the drought situation we are in, then everyone is better off.” Very small actions like turning off ovens as service comes to a close, changing light bulbs to compact florescent bulbs and being conscious of water service don’t take long to turn into a habit. Michael Tuohy agrees. “We took bottled still water off of our menu because of the environmental impact of shipping, packaging and the resulting waste. Then, when the severe drought hit, we stopped automatically taking glasses of water to tables. We are happy to bring someone a glass of water and we make sure that they know this at the beginning of their experience. Over time, diners came to expect it and were happy to know that we were concerned.” When a restaurant takes action like this, it flows over into the general public. Perhaps those diners will now change some of what they do at home because they were reminded at the restaurant.
One of the quickest ways to reduce a restaurant’s environmental impact is to replace old, wasteful equipment with new energy efficient technologies. That is exactly what Chef Patrick Gebrayel, of the Dunwoody Country Club, had in mind when he decided to renovate his kitchen. He made energy efficiency his top priority. From high output fluorescent lighting to an insulated Meiko dishwasher, running on 60 percent less water than their previous model, Gebrayel’s kitchen is not only environmentally friendly, it’s much less expensive to run. “A gas pilot runs about $400 to $500 a year,” said Gebrayel. “We just went from 24 pilots to 12. That’s going to be a savings of $6,000 annually.”
Chef Patrick Gebrayel of Dunwoody Country Club with Chef Gary Mennie of Taurus restaurant standing in the Club’s newly renovated kitchen featuring energy saving, eco-friendly equipment.
Gebrayel also replaced his oven, flat top griddle and deep fryers with newer insulated models. Now the heat stays where it’s needed and doesn’t escape into the kitchen. This reduces air conditioning bills and makes for a more comfortable staff. But, while newer technologies can definitely lower energy consumption, they are but one measure of a kitchen’s sustainability. His kitchen floor is made from recycled plastic milk jugs. The result – a non-skid floor that prevents slip and fall accidents and reduces the amount of chemical use by using an inexpensive enzyme-based cleaner that leaves almost no footprint on the water system.
Chef Gebrayel also tries to further reduce his carbon footprint by sourcing from local growers. According to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, “one-fifth of America’s petroleum consumption goes to producing and transporting our food.” By supporting local, small-scale, sustainable farmers who do not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a restaurant can reduce its environmental impact significantly. Buying local food also boosts local economies and creates a sense of accountability Gebrayel says consumers are looking for. “I think that after the spinach recall, people should have had a wake up call,” said Gebrayel. “Buying local just makes sense.”
Chefs who develop good relationships with local producers, not only obtain the freshest ingredients at the peak of flavor but also help farmers boost the local economy and connect the producer, cook and customer in a delicious way.
Dennis Lange, co-owner of Atlanta’s 5 Seasons Brewing Company, agrees. “I used to laugh at people who were more concerned about the quality of gasoline they put in their cars than the food they put in their bodies,” said Lange. “But we’re coming around. We’ll get it sooner or later.”
5 Seasons, a restaurant and brewpub that describes itself as “fine dining – in denim,” has become a model for the local/sustainable movement. By working with local growers, executive chef David Larkworthy has been able to produce menus based on seasonality since the restaurant opened in 2001.
Lange and Larkworthy initially sought out farmers because they needed a place to dispose of spent grains after brewing their beers. “We could have sold the grains as feed for pigs and cows, but we did a study with a group from The University of Georgia and found that turning it into compost is like Gatorade for plants,” said Lange. “It’s vitamin B rich, which means it promotes strong root growth and higher yields.”
Daniel Parson, farm manager at Gaia Gardens, and the main beneficiary of 5 Seasons’ compost program, is thankful for the restaurant’s resourcefulness. Over the years, 5 Seasons and Gaia Gardens have established a trading relationship. “We try to give them produce every time they come down here, so they’ll keep bringing the grains,” said Parson. Parson has also made it a point to grow the produce that 5 Seasons likes to use. Each year he plants Sun Gold Tomatoes and Lange comes down to hand pick the vine-ripened fruit himself. “For them, it’s about relationships and closing the food circle from production to consumption,” said Parson. “It’s about knowing where the food on your plate came from.”
If the small stuff is in place and a habit, what is the next step? Cleansers are a good way to begin the process of really greening up the kitchen. Time was, it was near impossible to find an environmentally friendly cleanser. Now, brands like “Eco-lab” are easy to find and have delivered. Being conscious of what goes down the drain is important to the long-term health of the water system.
Take-out containers can be difficult to find and weeding through the “green lingo” can be taxing. Once prohibitively expensive, the compostable to-go products have recently become a more competitive alternative to traditional disposables. Fulton Paper, a Georgia-based distributor that provides foodservice packaging, now carries two lines of compostable disposables. One is made from polylactic acid (derived from corn kernels) and is used for cold applications. The other is made from bagasse (sugar cane stalks) and can endure up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Both of these products biodegrade in four to six weeks on their own, but with the help of a brand new technology, the time required can drop to as little as one day.
Another option is the ORCA (Organic Refuse Conversion Alternative), a high-speed composting machine available exclusively through Fulton Paper. According to Madoc Rhys, Fulton Paper’s Foodservice Product Manager, the ORCA has multiple benefits. “This machine can convert up to 2,400 pounds of organic matter into enriched water in 24 hours,” said Rhys. “It uses 40 gallons of water per day, and converts the material input into 130 gallons of water. At 2,400 pounds a day, it significantly lowers labor time and garbage bills. It also eliminates the odors associated with rotting garbage and adds water back to Georgia’s diminishing water table.”
Turning garbage into fertile soil and water are great ways to reduce landfill waste, but for yet another recycling option chefs need look no further than their deep fryers. Environmental sustainability experts agree that using the Frialator’s leftovers to make biodiesel is an excellent use of resources that would otherwise be discarded. And now, thanks to a new business venture spearheaded by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, all restaurants have an opportunity to turn their used grease into gasoline. The program is simple. S.A.C.E. collects used cooking oil produced in local kitchens at no cost to the restaurant and processes it into biodiesel, which they then sell. All profits benefit this non-partisan organization in its mission to promote responsible energy choices and proactively address global warming problems. Because the oil can be considered a donation to a 501c-3, restaurants can also count it as a 100 percent tax write off.
While the energy it takes to make really big changes can be enormous, the future looks brighter and with the help of organizations like Georgia Organics (www.georgiaorganics.org) and the Georgia Restaurant Association’s (GRA) newly formed Green Foodservice Alliance which is a result of the GRA hosted sustainable roundtable discussions. Holly Elmore, who heads up the GRA sustainable efforts says, “the sustainable discussion has gone from a roundtable to a true movement. Partnering with Georgia Organics increases our efforts to put local producers in touch with buyers. We are also forming a Green Initiative Task Force, linking the foodservice industry with government issues. Chefs and restaurateurs don’t have time to get involved at that level and the task force will help both sides communicate. It’s very exciting.” In addition to producers and policy, the Green Foodservice Alliance will help source environmentally friendly equipment and kitchen products.
Sustainable efficiency in the kitchen is getting easier and by taking the baby steps toward the big goals, everyone wins. When paperwork is piled up and the rigors of the day take over, it is important to remember that getting folks to gather around a table is why most of chefs and restaurateurs go into this business in the first place. The hard cold facts about operating a sustainable farm means attention is paid to soil quality, reduced chemical use, crop rotation, water quality, energy resource conservation, waste management, safe and fair working conditions, worker pay and the humane treatment of animals. This list is worth paying for. There is a lot of soul in the mix and the person on the other end of the fork will taste that-it’s culinary karma.
Angie Mosier is a freelance writer and food stylist living in Atlanta.
Melissa Libby & Associates is a public relations firm with several restaurant clients. She can be reached at (404) 816-3068.
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