By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE

Turn-key teaching tools for sustainability.

As chefs, when we talk about cost, the focus is usually food and labor. Sometimes we forget about energy and water because we figure it’s a cost of doing business that’s beyond our control. You’ve probably heard me talk about the topic before, but I wanted to share my recent conversation with Richard Young and Kong Sham from Food Service Technology Center (FSTC). An unbiased research laboratory, FSTC is based in California and funded by PG&E, a major utility. As part of their work for the utility, they go into the field and help operators by auditing their facilities and showing them how to decrease their energy and water use.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE

Interactive activities for communicating foodservice principles of “green.”

Sustainability education is rapidly becoming a part of culinary and hospitality curricula cross the country, and there are few teaching tools that front-line educators can easily access and use in their classrooms. Attendees at the last CAFÉ Leadership Conference were given one such tool that we created at Kendall. For those who couldn’t attend, we’re sharing it today, along with another one, which will be posted permanently on the CAFÉ Web site in the Resource Center under Lesson Plans.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE

Defining “sustainable food” is not a black-and-white issue like water and energy conservation or waste-stream reduction. The decisions are value judgments that are unique to each individual.

What is sustainably farmed food? Is it organic? Is it biodynamic? Is it local? Dr. Fred Kirschenmann, sustainable-agriculture pioneer and distinguished fellow with The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, says the answer to those questions is, “Sometimes, but not necessarily.” Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with him about this subject and came away with a new understanding of the complexities.

Organic
Kirschenmann served on the USDA National Organics Standards Board, which developed the rules for implementing the National Organic Program. According to those standards, organic means that producers can use any natural inputs as long as they aren’t on the “prohibited list” (e.g., elemental sulfur or copper as a plant or soil micronutrient). The only synthetic inputs allowed are those on the “allowed list” (e.g., certain chlorine materials related to food-safety concerns).

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE

Technology Center of DuPage wins the second-annual CAFÉ/Kendall Green Award.

As instructors, we plant seeds of knowledge each day that we hope bloom in our students. And once in a while, they do the same for us. So it was with Faith Jennetta, program coordinator and baking instructor for a high-school program, the Technology Center of DuPage (TCD) based in Addison, Ill., and recipient of this year’s CAFÉ/Kendall Green Award.

The award was presented at the CAFÉ Leadership Conference held in Baltimore at the end of June. Peggy Ryan, chef instructor and executive chef of The Dining Room at Kendall College, presented the award, which consisted of a plaque and a $1,000 cash prize provided by Kendall College. In presenting the award, Ryan said, “Faith is such an inspiration to her students and I know that she will also inspire educators with her successes in sustainability.”

607 colleges and universities nationwide competed to reduce, reuse and recycle

Every spring, students across the country become RecycleManiacs, competing for national supremacy to determine which school can reduce, reuse and recycle the most campus waste. The Denver campus of Johnson & Wales University recently received accolades for recycling nearly 42 pounds of food waste (on a per-capita basis) from any other competing college or university.