Sustainable Purchasing

Overview

Want to improve the taste of your menu? Support your local community? Meet a growing consumer demand, and increase your marketing power? Try sourcing locally and sustainably. You’ll keep your customers close, your dollars closer, and save the planet one delicious meal at a time.

Humane animal husbandry, sustainable and diversified farms, vibrant local systems, and conservation literally improve the quality of the food we serve.  Even better, such practices allow us to meet our needs without leaving future generations unable to do so. 

By contrast, industrial agricultural practices may seem efficient but they contribute as much as 30 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.  Factory farming with the inherent animal cruelty, multi-faceted pollution, excessive chemical usage and soil degradation has a huge negative impact on public health, physically, economically, and ethically. Furthermore, its reliance on fossil fuels is simply not sustainable.

As culinary professionals, we have a critical role to play.  Every time you purchase from a local farmer, you are building a relationship that will lower carbon emissions.  Every time a customer delights in the freshness of you food, you are teaching the value of a sustainable food chain. No change is too small. Act locally, think globally, and make the delicious difference.