To Wrap Things Up...

In the beginning of class when we went over blogging I was not quite sure how this was going to tie into our class, but now that it is all over now I can see that blogging was a very good way to keep everybody in class up to date with what was happening in our industry. A major part of our class was to keep up with the news of our particular segment, and this helped me do just that.

While constantly reading articles in search of something that I found intriguing enough to blog about it really helped me just sort of realize what was going on in the different parts of our industry segment. For me while having other classes and work it is hard time to sit down and actually read a bunch of articles with very limited free time, and i liked how with this part of the class it almost in a way forced us to keep up with the news. This also got me reading more as i was just online browsing I would continue reading.

One thing I did not like about the blog was that our posts had to be within a certain segment of our industry, and that if i found something outside of green and sustainability that it would not relate to our blog.

As we learned through this class that social media is becoming a big thing within our industry, and blogging may be used in the future to promote business, or to even spark ideas and brainstorm with other chefs about new menu creations or troubles dealing with an ingredient. Overall i feel that blogging was a beneficial experience.

While browsing articles i previously stumbled upon this blog which i felt would be a fun blog to follow in the future. This blog not only gives menu ideas and new recipes, but also informs everybody who follows of just all of the news in the industry, which i feel is important.

This is the end!

My first impression of this class when we were told that we had to blog. When i heard this, my first thoughts were "whats a blog". I honestly didn't know what it was and i thought it was a pretty dumb idea. Once i learned what it was and how it worked I still thought it was a waste of time, my main reason is that i don't like being on a computer and I not big fan of writing.

As we started to get things rolling, it turned out not to be as bad as i thought it would be. It opened me up to a whole new way of criticism, but it really doesn't matter what i say because its my opinion and no one really cares.

The real good thing about blogging is that we got to read about how people in our industry try to make this world a better place and learn how we can change things as well. It was fun finding all the different articles and different ways people do be self sustainable.

One huge problem i did have with blogging was that it got really repetitive and old. it got lame because we just kept looking up the same topic but just with different people. We can only read about it so much before we kind of lose interest. Thats what killed me on this blogging experience, i hate doing things or being anything that continues to repeats itself.

After this class is finished i will continue to read magazines and other articles on our industries and learn whats new, fads, and other interest that chefs of this world have. I will most likely not continue to blog because to me, as I was in the beginning of this course, I feel that it was and will all was be a waste of time.

http://food-and-beverage.net/

All Things Must Come To An End

So blogging huh? Not going to lie, before this class I have never blogged in my life, I have never been on Twitter and I hardly ever read anything other than Nation's Restaurant News. This experience has made me be aware and partake in most of these things. I have had many thoughts on this experience.

Participating in this blog has forced me to read up on trends and fads in the restaurant industry. I might not have kept completely up to date had I not had this assignment. This blogging has made me read more and be able to react more on a certain topic. I was able to share my thoughts on an article while my group member shared is/her thoughts on their article find. Then we commented on each others posts and we had full discussions about the topics. This allowed me to become more educated in the industry without flipping through a magazine or a newspaper.

Blogging is a very interactive task. Every blog that was done had to be commented on by the three other group members. This made each person in the group blog four times each week for four weeks. This totaled sixteen blogs per person. To be completely honest, after the first four, they kind of became monotonous. The task was to blog about the same topic and there are only so many articles on Green and Sustainability in the Fine Dining atmosphere. After the first few, you kind of run out of things to talk about. Also, it gets harder and harder each time to argue for one side because everything has already been brought up. I found that my blogs were all quite similar in nature and that the main point of each was, in context, the same.

Overall, the experience was fun and exciting. It kept me on my toes and aware of what was happening in the industry today. I will definitely continue to read articles and keep up on trends and fads in the industry. I will not continue to blog about my findings but I will be aware of my surroundings. This blog is very interesting. I have always been interested and involved in wine(s), and wine making, as well as beer. This blog is updated often with information on food, wine, beer and more. This blog would be a great one to start following after this class ends. Hopefully I can keep up with the trends and fads in industry now that I have all the resources in front of me at my disposal.

-The End-

Alright so what was the point of all of this?

Blogging forced us to read, think and write a little on each of our topics. I feel like overall, it was a perfectly fine experience in blogging. Its not as though it were a difficult task set for us, and in the end it definitely proved to benefit our lives whether we'd like to admit it or not.

In the process, we learned a lot about the industry that we chose to dive into and why shouldn't we have been doing this already? Nit picking at the particular topic of Going Green & Sustainability in Fine Dining Settings, in my opinion was probably the best thing we could have been doing. Going Green is clearly a "happening NOW" topic, and from what we learned isn't going anywhere any time soon. Sustainability and everything related just makes sense. With enough education and awareness thrown out to those who have been living under a rock, it will all soon be common sense (we hope). Personally, I think we chose the best topic with maybe Health & Nutrition following close behind. These are things most important in not just the industry but the world right now. People are finally realizing that everything we do, and everything we eat has an effect on the Earth which we humans are hanging out on, and has a say in how long we may have to spend on it.

I can't say that there is anything I found that I hated during the process of these blogs. Maybe disagreeing with certain parts of articles and genuinely disliking the fact that going green as become somewhat of a fashion statement (where more materials are being burned to print a billion purses that sport a picture of a tree and the words "GO GREEN" underneath, or the many tee-shirts or what ahve you--most of which, if you read the labels, aren't even made using recyclable materials or anything close), but that's probably it.

I did enjoy a lot of these articles, I think we all did an awesome job at scrounging up some really interesting publications and picking them apart one at a time. Not only summarizing them and elaborating more on their topics but going as far as comparing it to other things related and adding to some ideas with our own. I can't say I haven't learned a little more on the green movement that I didn't already know, and clearly all this research aided our putting together our presentation for the class.

Blogging could definitely be related in a positive way to our future careers whether we decide to go on to become Executive Chefs, Restaurant Owners, Food Writers/Critics, Food Sceintists, Environmental Activists, even working with food purveyors, or all of the above! It's your prerogative--you are your own decision maker. How you utilize it is up to you. It can be a private blog where you jot down notes to yourself, recipes you've discovered or created, a public blog where you personally critique new restaurants or things you've tried--the possibilities are endless. For all you know, you could be thinking you're keeping a silly blog, and before you know it you could gain 100 or even 1,000 people who decide what you say is important to them, and they're going to 'follow' your blog and wait patiently for your next posting. It's all about getting your ideas down in print--whatever form. Who knows, blogging could be your outlet to riches!

Following Food & Beverage blogs are great, even if its just once in a while. Keeps you up to date with current events and up to speed with anything new. They prove to be great sources of information & maybe the foundation to some of your own twist of ideas. Here is one I stumbled upon recently. It has a name/title, a good consistency in her posts (recipes and feedback) and a lot of visuals, which definitely help for eye appeal since people are naturally drawn to visuals--especially foood.

:)

Lent Substitutes

Article

This article in interesting because it took going green and portrayed it from a religious aspect. This article suggests giving up certain things and replacing certain everyday household items for lent. Such things as regular detergents to do your laundry or paper towels may be replaces with equivalent substitutes that cost nothing or little more than usual. Also these items will help the environment.

Although this article does not particularly pertain to the food service industry, it may be indirectly related into any establishment especially the hospitality. If the establishment you work in does its own laundry and linens, and they switch over to the more natural detergent and use air drying may help save the business money, but also help the environment. Also with the amount that chefs/cooks wash their hands cutting out the cost and the waste of paper towels would have a huge impact on the costs of the company. Having the business go paperless with their advertisements and promotions will also help, instead of sending out mail with coupons and promotions on it, just use email which seems to be the more popular form of communication these days. All of these slides are directed on a small scale to household users, but may also be related to the hospitality industry as we use all of these products or procedures but just on a much larger scale. So in the long run restaurants and hotels will have an even bigger portion of helping the environment if they simply just change the ways the do the small things.

..Herb Farm / Slow Food..

I came across this site and found a lot of what they did intriguing. I enjoyed how the entire HerbFarm Restaurant began just because Lola Zimmerman, one of the owners had a few extra herbs that she didn't need, and decided to put them up for sale on the side of the road near her home. Soon her garage turned into a small restaurant, and the rest is history. Today, they provide fruits and vegetables for the restaurant, "continuing the relationship with the earth that Lola had loved and fostered in the years before." If you look at this page of their site, under activities & classes, they actually have whats called their '24 hour experience', an opportunity to reserve a nights stay and get up early in the morning to meet the Herbfarm's garden staff, and actually help them collect produce for the restaurant's kitchen. It is a rather pricey trip, but if you can afford it I'm sure its a worthwhile experience to be able to help harvest and deliver fresh ingredients to the kitchen staff of the restaurant, learning about the agricultural aspects of the industry along the way from trained garden staff. The stay includes a 9-course meal and a signed cookbook and a bottle of wine as souvenirs.


&&I was reading about Frasca Food & Wine, when I learned that they were members of Slow Food USA. After researching on their site, I found that 'Slow Food' is an idea of a way of living and eating, in such a way that is good for us [nutritionally] as well as the environment. Their mission is to create a lasting change in the food industry. It is basically a site for people who care for the cause to connect in a community where sustainability and pleasure in making and eating food are of the utmost importance. They also strive to inspire food policies and better production practices, which pose as excellent examples for those wanting to make an effort in the world's Green Movement and those looking for tips and support. Learn more about Slow Food USA HERE. :)

London's restaurant owners and chefs describe the sustainability practices they use.

I found this article pretty interesting because it talks about 4 chefs in London, and all having sustainable restaurants. All in different parts of London but all dealing with local purchasing. The first chef is a man named Heston Blumenthal. He discusses what he does during some of the seasons, for instance, all their fish comes in daily from day boats. He also says that every sing bit of beef is free-range, from free-ranged farms. The only thing that is bad for them is that there're not 100% seasonal.

The next chef is Marcus Wareing, owns a fine dining restaurant, and tries to be sustainable but for him it appears to not work our for him. He clams that all that they can really grow are carrots, potatoes, onions and turnips, and you can only do so much. Many London restaurant owners say diners are looking for the in the facility is all of them to be environmentally aware. Wareing says that the customers are there to indulge themselves.

The third chef joining us is Ruth Rodgers. Her restaurant was one of the first to recycle all of their glass bottles in the restaurant. Later in her facility she managed to reduce her waste by half, pioneering the recycling of everything from cardboard to cooking oil, which the restaurant converts into biofuel.

Thats only 3 of the 5 chefs interviewed. It goes on about the same situations. I like this article a lot because is shows different chefs and their true opinions on being sustainable and going green.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124959000895812157.html

Sustainable Garden at Singapore's Four Seasons

This article is about the Four Seasons Hotel located in Singapore. The hotel is doing its part in the "green" movement by starting an eco-garden in June 2009 to raise awareness of environmental issues. This garden is located on the public pathway into the hotel and measures 1000 square feet. This garden is 100% organic. Rain water and food waste are recycled into their irrigation system and compost piles to be used in the garden for new crops to grow.

The garden's harvest is used in all of the hotel's kitchens and their two fine dining establishments on site. One of the restaurants is One Ninety, a bistro grill that specializes in firing items on their applewood grill. The other, Jiang-Nan Chun, a Chinese establishment that focuses on Cantonese cuisine.

The garden is monitored by everyone at the hotel. In a group effort, each hotel department focuses on one to two crops. Sheri Masters, the associate editor of the Four Seasons Magazine, states "The engineering team tends the banana trees, human resources cares for the chili plants, finance oversees the limes and lemongrass, and the chefs turn their attention to the delicate herbs and gingers." With this rotation, their is never a crop that is left unattended.

Chef Bruno Correa and Sous Chef Stefano Andreoli, representing One Ninety, embrace the chance to work with the freshest vegetables and herbs into their cuisine. Chef Correa says, "The food we cook is simple and based on the use of fresh, high-quality products. Fresh organic herbs really impart a difference, heightening the flavor of the dish."

Only nine months have passed since the garden was started. Everyone seems to be pleased and the idea is blossoming. The garden was expanded in October 2009, five months after opening, to grow crops for Jiang-Nan Chun (like bok choy and kale), while remaining to grow their other crops (like okra and basil). This fully sustainable garden is located on premises and provides produce to all of Four Seasons' kitchens. This system is an awesome step in the right direction for helping the environment and cutting costs (food waste and purchases).

Sustainable Seafood! & other things..

I found my article in Specialty Food Magazine, but I couldnt find it online. It was in the Food Trends section of the Jan/Feb 2010 edition.

It describecd an eco-friendly fish resource, which is www.fishchoice.com. Its a site where chefs and retailers would register quickly for free, and find themselves environmentally responsible seafood suppliers all spelled out in front of them.

The article describes how impressive the capabilities are on this site, with over 300 products from 130 suppliers by species, name, origin, minimum order and some other specs. It helps out those chefs who may want to make responsible decisions about what they are serving on their menus, but who struggle to find those responsible sources. FishChoice will find a sustainable option for you.

The second thing I have to bring to the blog is about an Ad I saw in Nation's Restaurant News Magazine, It was a bit of an older periodical I came across from Oct 5, 2009. It was advertising naturally disposable gloves, by FoodHandler. You can find out some information about it by clicking here. What it comes down to is that they have developed a glove (and plastic 'bakery' bags) that could be thrown in with other compost items, just as if it were any other piece of biodegrable material waste. These gloves are good for fine dining and QSR alike, reducing waste and our carbon footprints. Think of all the cases of gloves a restaurant is capable of going through! It'd be interesting to find out prices of a case of these gloves, vs regular food service gloves any typical restaurant orders just as a comparison.

Green Hotels Incorporate Sustainability in Food and Bev, Guest Rooms and Ops

I found this article to be kind of interesting. It's about a hotel that everything they are doing is going green, and becoming sustainable within the area around them so they decrease their environmental footprint.

Understanding that this isn't a restaurant, but a resort, their entire operation is to help the environment and the business around the area. This resort has embraced 10 initiatives to adopt within RocksResorts’ hotels and properties. All of which contain to the kitchen, rooms, and the resort itself.

Their first way to go green is energy conservation, for ex: switching out to energy efficient lightbulbs. #2 is the water conservation, which is using less, Efforts include linen and towel reuse programs that are now an industry standard to installation of low-flow faucets, showerheads and other fixtures.

Those are the main ideas to make things better. Within the kitchen, integrating more and more selections in menus of all types that integrate organic produce, hormone free meats and dairy, and other natural products that offer guests healthier food selections. The wines and spirits are also grown within the region.

http://eventplanning.about.com/od/conferenceservices/qt/green-hotels-incorporate-sustainability.htm

Global Warming Results

In this article the author, Lisa Jennings, explains how Global Warming Solution Acts that are implemented by states may only cost small businesses pennies. They review the Global Warming Solution Act that California had implemented in 2006, and the results of it. They focused their study on the Border Grille Restaurant in Santa Monica, CA. They said that they chose a restaurant to review the results of this act because the restaurant industry is one of the biggest consumers of energy, and therefore one of the biggest contributors to emissions.

The article explains as to how little it will even cost small businesses to abide by this plan. Researchers say that based off of the consumption of the energy usage of the Border Grille over the past 5 years that by 2020 they could only expect to see an increase in usage by .3%. This minimal cost to the business will help lower the global warming effect. Although the article did sort of discredit itself by stating that in reality the cost is going to increase 28% with all other variable inflation considered, but based off of fuel and energy costs the increase is .3%. Although this is small, as Milliken, owner of Border Grille, says "it's about taking baby steps."

It is nice to see that state and federal governments are starting to try and force establishment to be more eco-friendly. They are also keeping the small business owner in mind while trying to create these plans to enforce because they have to keep the costs in mind. This plan made sense and it was only going to cost pennies to the small business owner, but they also looked over the long time effects of the plan, and whether or not it would be worth it. I think more states should start and try to figure out plans to make their state more sustainable and green, to try and achieve an all around better country.