Blog Conclusion

First coming into this class, i thought the blogging was going to be the worst part of the class. Now that we are all done i really think that this blog has actually taught me a lot about going green, and another topics that i wouldn't have even thought of before doing this. What i have learned in this class was to read about the industry, because it changes all the time, and if we don't know whats going then our company will be just a fad.

What i didn't like about blogging at first was that we even had to do it, because i'm not a "blogging" person, and then i just started to like it because it gave me a reason to look up articles for something that i was interested in.

For my future career i think i would use blogging, because like we learned in class, with technology people will learn about your business a lot faster, and people are always online, so a blog would be a great thing to have for a company.

I found a blog called chocolate obsession that i would like to start following, i thought it was cool, because it tells all about new chocolate items coming out, like when reeses came out with dark chocolate reeses peanut butter cups. I am really in love with chocolate so i think this is a good blog for me. :)

When i first came into this class i really did not know what to expect. the class was definitely easier than i had imagined it and was very interested in the topics that we discussed and learned alot more about some things that i knew very vaguely about. because of this i know about the diffrent trends and issues that are important to the industry at the moment and will most likely will keep and maintain my subscriptions to the NY times and Nations resturant news as i would like to know more about the future trends/fads, and issues that come up in the industry
because im not really into the blogging scene i really couldnt find a blog that i was interested in and wanted to follow. but as time goes on im pretty sure somthing will catch my eye and i will most likely wind up following it. i really did enjoy this class and the topics and just generally learning as much as i did

I definitely was unsure about what to expect when I first learned about this whole blogging assignment since it is not something that I have ever done before. It turns out that it is a lot simpler than I had expected and it was a good skill to have learned. It was definitely helpful because a lot of the information that we gathered for our presentation on "going green" came from many of these articles that we posted and commented on. Therefore, it was not as if we had to do a whole bunch of extra work and research in order to complete the project. I enjoyed reading the articles and commenting on why I agreed or disagreed with what the writer had to say on the topic of going green. The only thing that was frustrating was that is was very inconvenient to have to keep returning to the blog many times to check if any of my group members had posted yet, and many times this did not happen until very late Tuesday night (oh and where it says the time that each entry was posted, the time is off by about 3 hours). Blogging could be a very successful way to keep up with all that is going on the food and beverage industry and it could be helpful to follow some prominent bloggers in the future in order to know the most popular trends and fads. I would like to follow the blog Chocolate & Zucchini (www.chocolateandzucchini.com). It is a very well-known blog that has many excellent recipes as well as tips and topics related to the food and beverage industry.

Blog Conclusion.

In the beginning of the trimester, I was quite skeptical of this whole blog idea. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. It was nice to see what variety of people are "going green" and the outcomes of QSR places going green, and being ecofriendly. I also feel that I learned more because I was looking up new information every week, as well as reading my group members' articles too. So I really liked that and that this was more interactive than a paper would be. However, it was difficult to reply to everyone's post because I just run out of things to say, because either the person who posted made all the points, or the other group members did. I've noticed that blogging can be useful in this industry because you can post information, and get a lot of people's attention and it's more interactive, not to mention free. It's a great way to reach a lot of people. I found this blog that I think is a perfect example of people interacting and sharing recipes. Some of them look really good too! Overall, this was a positive experience. I would recommend blogging to people who are trying to advertise as well as get people's attention and opinion. It's great we got to be so interactive even if it felt repetitive at times.

Blog Conclusion

While doing the blogs, I actually think I learned a lot more than if I had just done a paper, to be honest. It made me search around and actually keep on the topic, instead of just doing quick research, throwing a paper together just to get it done, and not look back at it again.
I've learned a lot of not only the facts of going green, and how it affects our environment, but also how to apply it to the food service industry, quick-service and on-site in particular. There's little things that these facilities can do to help improve our environment. Something as little as not giving out so many napkins & utensils can add up to a big improvement. Stepping up to changing kitchen equipment, and choosing different kinds of foods to serve in kitchens is an approach some restaurants have taken as well.
I liked seeing specific examples of how certain places are changing their practices to those that are more eco-friendly. Before starting this blog, I had no idea that a lot of restaurants actually are trying to reduce their carbon foot-print. It was nice to see well-known places like KFC, Taco Bell, McDonalds, and Starbucks doing certain things to help improve our environment.
The only thing I didnt like about doing this, is I felt like things were very repetitive. Most of the articles I posted and read, was pretty much just an example of a different restaurant trying to go green. I liked this topic and learned a lot of valuable information, however, if I had a different one, I feel that it'd be more interesting, and not repetitive like this.
In the future, I could use blogging to track new trends in the food service industry. It doesnt just have to apply to food or recipies, but maybe how other restaurants are going about business, and going back to "green", I could see what I could do in my own place of work to be more eco-friendly.
Here's a link to a blog I found interesting. The author is a regular woman from Sweden, who has no formal culinary training .. I think thats why I find it so intriguing.

Lessons to building green

I really liked this article, because not only did it tell how other QSR's fix their restaurants to be LEED certified green, but it also taught people how to build a restaurant so it can be green. I just thought it was really interesting, because i remember talking in class i believe about how it is easier to build a restaurant to be green; then it is to fix it to be green. Another reason that i really liked this article was because it talked about dunkin donuts having a green certified restaurant. I never knew that they had one, and it was really interesting to find that out :)

Tips for QSR's to Go Green

Here's a short article I found -- it just gives a few tips on what quick service restaurants can do to save on wastes and be more eco-friendly. They give a couple suggestions that are very easy, most people just dont think about them. For example, ask customers if they want utensils -- instead of just shoving a bunch of them into the bag. I know for myself, a lot of the time I just throw them away if I dont need them. Also, the napkin dispensers that only dispense one at a time is a good idea. My mom is the biggest example of this -- if the napkins are just on the counter in a pile, she'll grab like 50?! We clearly dont use that many so a lot of them go to waste. Little things like these dont seem big, but when you add it all up for every single person that comes into a QSR, it'll make a huge difference.

Hospitality Suppliers Go Green, Save Cash

This article talks about the Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Supply show that celebrated its 34th annual showing which took place in Myrtle Beach. "The event...showcased energy-efficient and so-called green products and services to the estimated 22,000 hospitality employees who attended from across the region." The people in attendance are obviously looking for ways to cut costs in their businesses and this seems to be the best way. Tammy Rausch talks about LED bulbs which she claims "will last 10 years going 12 hours a day, and there's no heat from them, which is a huge savings." Though the cost of one of these bulbs is $35, which may seems like a lot up front, but when you consider the how long it will last compared to a regular bulb as well as the energy savings, then it is well worth it! They also talk about high-efficiency washing machines that remove as much water as they can so that the dryer can be run for a much shorter time and savings can be made there. There are also water faucets that "reduce the flow of water from normal faucets of 2.2 gallons per minute to 1.5 gallons per minute." Water usage can add up and become very expensive, so any cut backs that can be made from that will save money and unnecessary water usage. All of these are great ways for restaurants and hotels as well to "go green," and though the start up costs may seem like more in the beginning, it really is the best for the long term.

Eco-Friendliness to be a trend in 2010?

The article I found goes along with a lot of things we've talked about in class. In this article, it talks about how "sustainable and locally grown and sourced ingredients will be the top menu trends in 2010, according to chefs polled." It seems that this could turn out to be more than fad that people might feel like it is because it appeals to what people are now looking for in many places they go to eat or when they go food shopping."Of the top 10 anticipated trends, half fell into the sustainable, eco-friendly or organic categories." was another interesting fact in this article. It seems that a lot of chefs noticed the substainable, locally grown food makes a better product, therefore it brings in more business. The article also mentions, "surveyed chefs said the top trend in restaurant kitchens next year would be the inclusion of environmentally friendly equipment and practices." which would be another step in the right direction.

I really liked this article, because it explained how this one company called Filtagroup, was going green long before celebrities and other figures made it so important. This article also explains how certain appliances they have can help with going green, such as their filtafry, which is a frying machine that once you are done with the oil, the company comes in and takes the oil and makes it in to biodisel. Another thing that i found really interesting about this article, is the fact that they were talking about how everyone wants to go green, but most people don't know how. I also like how Filtagroup doesn't call going green a trend, but an "integral piece of the business puzzle". They are going to continue making products to help businesses go green, and i am really interested to see how everything will work out with them.

http://www.rimag.com/article/367757-Eco_Friendly_Foodservice_Green_and_Growing.php whats so appealing about this article is that. most of the articles I've ever been able to find have always been about the economic benefits, and how specific restaurants that have gone green have seen an increase in sales. but this article shows the amount of consumers who appreciate eating in green restaurants and how much it appeals to them

KFC in North Hampton, Mass. Going Green

In this article I found, it talks about a KFC/Taco Bell joint in Mass. introducing new equipment that will help our environment. They have recently installed the SolarWall System, which "is a solar air heating system that uses the sun’s energy to heat ventilation air for commercial and industrial buildings. It substantially reduces traditional heating fuel expenses and carbon dioxide emissions, requires no maintenance and lasts more than 30 years."
Each year, the system can displace about 9 tons of carbon dioxide from the earth's atmosphere -- thats about 270 tons of carbon dioxide that can be displaced throughout the 30 years this system will last.
This, yet again, shows the efforts that small, quick service restaurants are putting forth to help improve the environment we live in.

"Wellness, green initiatives planned for government buildings"

I found this article and I find it interesting how much attention 'going green' is getting in Washington. I like that they are trying to "introduce wellness and sustainability into the federal system." As in another article I posted, I am hoping that if the Obama administration is promoting the whole green thing people will be more likely to do so. Which is like what they stated in their article, “The wellness part is about introducing food items that are inherently healthy... What [the GSA is] trying to do is get customers to pick food items that are going to contribute to well being and health.” This is a really great influence to show everyone, and not just those in Washington but to everyone as a great example of not just being green but encouraging exercise and healthy eating as well. I hope that this continues to the trend and that way more people will catch on.

This article kind of annoyed me! There should not be a competition to "going green," that is not at all the purpose. This is something that EVERY country should be taking part in because it will help save the environment that we have all been killing for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is not "Sputnik," it is not uncharted territory or anything even remotely close to that. We are all just as responsible for the torture we have inflicted on this world so it really is stupid to try to say that it is just China's fault and name-call them ("global pollution villain"). It is useless to put all the blame on one country because we are all equally to blame. Instead, we need to look towards the future and find ways to be more environmentally friendly now that it has become a huge problem. We should just be happy that they are being responsible about it now and trying to fix their past wrongs instead of looking at it as a threat (China can do NOTHING right apparently; we blame them for the problem and then get annoyed when they try to fix it!) Obviously we have discusses how it is expensive to "go green" so if businesses could buy this equipment at a lower cost in China then I do not see where the problem lies. Like the article states, just because China is opening up tons of new jobs because of the "going green" trend, does not necessarily mean that that is taking away any United States jobs that will also be created for this trend. I agree with the article when it talks about the "folks in green-tech and environmental frontlines" who believe "the green-tech "race" is not one that one side wins and the others loses, but a scenario where partnerships are sought out and the final equation doesn't have to be a zero-sum game." If we could all work to help each other out it would be a lot more beneficial then trying to compete against every other country out there.

Unique Idea -- Food Trucks Going Green

Since we were talking about food trucks in class last week, I thought it'd be interesting to read about trucks that are all about going green. In this article I found, it concentrates on "The Green Truck" in LA.
The truck not only serves organic, and local & sustainable foods, but it's also environmentally friendly. Their food is cooked in a solar-powered commissary. The truck also runs on vegetable-oil fuel, and their utensils and packaging are made of biodegradable packaging.
The article states "Green Truck’s eco-menu includes local certified-organic vegetable salads, free-range chicken, tofu lavash wraps, line-caught mercury-free tuna tacos, and more." Its signiture dish is the Mother Trucker vegan burger with beet relish.
"'Healing the planet one meal at a time,' says Kam Micelli and Mitchell Collier who founded the Green Truck and keep grease out of the sewer system and crap out of landfill."
I like that not only full-sized restaurants are going green, but also that small trucks that travel cities are very commited to the issue too. Interested to see if this catches on to more trucks as well.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20071101/reinventing-the-cheeseburger.html

This article to me is an awesome example of what going green can do for a resturant. this small fast food franchise was losing its business to the bigger fast food resturants and simply by purchasing from local producers and suppliers. they not only cut their costs, and now help diffrent ranches and farms support themselves they also over the course of time may cut the cost of Bio-diesel by a small amount in their area by donating their grease. ultimately they have also cut their costs where they can offer a health benfit to their employees at a small cost, and have increased their business by the people who want to see sustainable food in their resturants as well as efficiant resturants. i hope to see more fast food resturants jump on the band wagon with this chain

Mcdonalds Green Arch?

This article was really interesting to me, because it is about McDonald's changing their arch from the classic red and gold, to hunter green to support their going green. In great Britain and France they have started to make the change over to the green, and the article also said that 100 franchises in Germany are expected to make the change by the end of this year. When i was first reading this i was thinking that that alone can't make them green. Then as i was reading more i realized that they really are trying, because they are getting LEED certified. As we learned before LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design Maybe McDonald's will start changing their restaurants to be more green. That will be a really interesting change to see.

The White House Goes Organic.

I was really impressed when I read this article about the Obamas. "Obama and the children used only organic fertilizers and insect repellents, and instead of chemical pesticides, ladybugs and praying mantises are being used to control harmful insect populations." According to the article, this is to start a healthy lunch campaign. What is great about this is that it will get people to lean towards going green. "The number of Americans who buy organic food on a weekly basis currently sits at a 25 percent minority. That number will likely rise as the White House garden gets continued press when its organic produce is served at various Washington, D.C., functions." I think that having this out there will inspire more people to think about going organic, even if it is a bit more expensive. "[Michelle Obama]is doing it because she believes it's the right thing. Therefore, that's what's going to happen and that's what's going to affect public opinion.” Even better is that they aren't just promoting organic foods, but eco friendly as well by not using pesticides in their garden.

http:/www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-19/green-more-than-a-buzzword-for-san-diegos-restaurant-industry

This article discusses how it is true that due to the economy people are indeed going out to eat much less because of a decrease in personal disposable income. What I found fascinating was that this article says that more than half of the people who are stil going out to dine (62%) are more likely to go to places that they know are "green." These restaurants are also focusing more on not only purchasing locally grown food, but also putting more effort towards performing more economically friendly practices such as recycling, using eco-friendly cleaning products, and bio-degradable to-go containers. Dennis Stein, co-founder of Sea Rocket Bistro, even goes as far as to try to only hire staff who live in close proximity to the restaurant in order to cut down on gas usage, which also helps to support the local community, and he keeps an electric motorcycle for use of any errands that may need to be done. Stein is also involved int he local community by supporting such groups as Food Not Lawns, which encourages people to plant gardens instead of lawns around their houses and he also donates all of his restaurants' biodegradable food waste to schools for use in their gardens.

This article also talks about the Green Restaurant Association, which is a non-profit organization that helps restaurants and all other brances of the food industry to become more environmentally sustainable. It works on a point-based system where restaurants are able to achieve 3 levels of certification. It helps to show which restaurants are actually "green" since there is no set standards currently which qualify a restaurant to be "green." It also shows restaurants how far they really can go with the "green" trend such as outfitting restaurants with "low-flow water systems, low-volatage lights, motion sensors, timing devices, compressors that reduce refrigeration expenses, reclaimed paper products and plenty of recycling bins." All of these step which owner may not realize they can take to help the environment while also being able to cut so many costs.

I also learned that LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which I remember someone had asked about because he/she had seen it in another article. An LEED certification must be obtained through the U.S. Green Building Council, but this article did not state what it actually took to achieve the different levels of this certification. Though it does say that Claire's restaurant is LEED platinum certified (the highest level) and that the things that make it "green" include "a dining room furnished with all re-purposed materials, recycled denim as insulation, a 90 percent edible garden, solar panels that provide 50 percent of the restaurant's electricity, and a pervious parking lot, meaning water drains into it versus running into the streets..."

http://www.qsrweb.com/article.php?id=16722&s=1

This article really stood out to me because I feel the information on sustainability in quick service restaurants isn't as prevalent as a more upscale restaurant would have everyone know about it. the companies in the article need to put that information out to their public and not just keep it as a file in a folder to make themselves look appealing to potential investors, franchisees and so on. i belive this information might also boost sales. because people would know where there fish is coming from and that its not over fished, as well as debunking some of the customers preconceived notions that they have about seafood in fast food restaurants.

Eco-friendly practices, local purchasing top trends for 2010

The article that I read talked about a survey that was conducted on 1854 members of the American Culinary Federation about the importance of different food and beverage practices. It came out that most of the new trends in the up-coming year are leading towards more local and organic food and practices. Restaurants as well as customers are looking for fresher food, less food transportation, supporting local, sustainability, and nutritious foods. The AFC president Michael Ty claims that "This is retro...It's what we did in the past when chefs relied on local markets because we did not have the luxury of today's transportation system. We are going back to our roots and the foundation of our craft that made it more pleasurable." This seems interesting to me that we are actually retrograding towards simpler methods and away from the new technology that has forced us to tamper with food in order to make it more transportable and possibly less nutritious. I find it interesting that chefs believe that buying local is indeed preferable because the food is not only more nutritious, but also tastes better and they are having to use less ingredients (such as sauces) to cover up less quality products. The chefs surveyed also believe that there will be an increase in the industry of more eco-friendly equipment and practices, which I have to say I would be very happy to see happen. All of these practices and equipment currently in use are bad for the environment and if we do not start doing something about it now then soon it will be too late.

"Tennessee company strives for sustainable packaging options"

This article I found is about a company called "Southern Champion Tray" which is about using eco-friendly product in packaging. They are using "Green Seal–certified cleaning products at their facilities, experimentation with biodiesel and cutting-edge fuel efficiency modifications to their trucking fleet, compostability testing on its products, and using motion sensors and skylights to reduce energy use in their warehouses." As it points out in the article as well, most people do not realize what goes into their packaging product, and all of the chemicals involved. This is a great way to get people aware. It could start making people think as well of what they can do differently to help the environment, since as it says in the aritlce, the green movement is all about asking "what can I do differently that I wasn't doing before?"

I really like the concept of changing what goes into our packaging, especially for the food service industry since we also throw so much of it out. If more companies do this, we have less trash that will harm the environment while using less chemicals while making our packaging.

How Starbucks is Changing Packaging

I found this article about Starbucks to be very interesting. By 2012, Starbucks wants to only use cups that are 100% recyclable. It states that Americans use 58 billion cups per year, which obviously adds to the thousands of tons that are forced into our landfills each year. I wasn't aware that Starbucks has already taken steps to make their paper products more environmental friendly. "In 2006, Starbucks introduced a paper cup that contained 10 percent post-consumer recycled fiber, and last year it switched from the standard PET cold cups to polypropylene cold cups, which use significantly less plastic and reduce greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing by 45 percent." Not only will this help improve their environment, it could also potentially improve business for Starbucks. Dunkin' Donuts still uses styrofoam cups which are known to be bad for the environment. DD consumers may eventually make the turn to Starbucks if they're pro-green.

I was happy to see this article, and the many others I came across that showed how quick service restaurants are taking the extra steps to help improve our environment.

Quick Service going green!!

This article that i found was really interesting, because it's all about fast food restaurants making their buildings greener. The way they did this was add energy star kitchen appliances, which of course would help with energy in the building. Some places even got rid of indoor lighting and replaced it with sunlight. I really agree with this article, because it might help other quick service restaurants do the same, and really help save the environment. The one thing i noticed that they didn't tell us was what LEED was. Another reason i found this article to be so interesting was because I never knew that all these fast food restaurants were trying to be green, and actually being successful.