Title: Becoming More Sustainable in the Food Services Industry
Author: James Careless
With their frontline contact with food products, packaging, and tools, food service professionals can play an effective role in making the industry more sustainable. They can do this by adopting environmentally friendly practices by reducing their use of plastics and other disposables. This can be achieved by choosing eco-friendly alternatives such as washable plates, glasses/cups and cutlery, along with biodegradable/compostable single-use products and reducing food waste through better portion control and expiry date monitoring.
This is a mission that resonates with Sienna Living, which has long-term care locations in British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
“Sienna is always ensuring that their communities and all areas of operations are sustainable,” said Arjun Sathyaseelan, the company’s dietary operations partner. “Even for future sites, the implementation of sustainable approaches is well embedded into the organization’s commitment to their contribution to improving our environment. The organization ensures this by keeping a close eye on regulatory changes and, in turn, working closely with our vendors.”
The same concern is shared by Compass Group Canada, a food service and support services company headquartered in Mississauga. “Our organization is very concerned with becoming more sustainable,” said Alexandra Carmona, the company’s food service supervisor. A case in point: “We have been phasing out single-use plastic for quite some time now.”
Eliminating Single-Use Plastic
On Dec. 20, 2022, the Canadian government banned the manufacturing and importing of single-use plastic products such as cutlery, hard-to-recycle food service ware and stir sticks.
To comply, Sienna Living worked closely with its vendors “to review alternatives and select suitable options that would suit all our locations,” said Sathyaseelan. “We continue to enhance the knowledge of our leaders and the best practices when having disposables on-site. Our communities take a non-disposable approach as part of their best practice and only use disposables as a last resort, such as when dishwashing machines are out of service for a long period of time.”
Compass Group Canada has taken similar steps to comply with the single-use plastic ban, but doing so has not been easy. “This is very challenging as we are accustomed to using some single-use products daily, for example, plastic cutlery — especially spoons,” Carmona explained. “We have been working with our suppliers to source more compostable products; however, this can be very costly. It is very challenging for food service operations, such as those in long-term care, to make this switch while trying to budget accordingly, especially as a third-party contracted company.”
Nevertheless, Compass Group has done what had to be done. “We have slowly switched all our cutlery to stainless steel reusable cutlery in all areas, not just dining rooms,” said Carmona. “We have also purchased some compostable products for packed meals that residents take with them for outings such as hospital appointments.”
Other Ways to Become More Sustainable
Eliminating single-use plastic is just one way for food service operations to become more sustainable. Enhanced recycling of packaging is another important way to enhance sustainability. However, there seem to be significant challenges in that respect, as implementing a comprehensive recycling program is fraught with problems. For instance, many plastic products are not recyclable, and many manufacturers are not providing alternative packaging for cleaning supplies or food packaging. Meanwhile, adhering to proper separation and disposal of recyclable materials doesn’t necessarily divert a significant amount of waste from landfills if the local governments responsible for waste removal lack the facilities and/or budget for comprehensive recycling programs.
That said, reducing food wastage is a doable option for achieving sustainability goals. To make this happen — and control costs in the bargain — food service professionals can implement strategies such as accurately forecasting demand, monitoring inventory levels and implementing portion control measures to minimize food wastage. As well, donating surplus food to local charities or composting it for agricultural purposes are effective ways to keep excess food from going to waste.
By addressing waste in this manner, food service professionals can have a positive impact on the environment while enhancing their brand reputations.
Getting Employees to Buy In
Foodservice organizations cannot achieve successful sustainability practices without the active support and participation of their staff. Mindful of this fact, “We get our Sienna employees to be more sustainable by sharing information on why taking a sustainable approach is key to addressing pollution,” said Sathyaseelan. “Also, we have found that involving the employees in changes and implementation of any changes creates a more transparent approach and leads to employee buy-in.”
At Compass Canada, “We encourage employees to use reusable products such as reusable fruit bowls instead of disposable ones,” said Carmona. “Employees are also all required to take sustainability training courses to better educate them on the importance of sustainability for the environment and the overall benefit it has for them and their futures.”
Advice to Other Operators
Having taken serious steps to become more sustainable in their operations, Sienna Living and Compass Group Canada have some useful advice to offer to others in the industry.
“My advice to other food service operations is to be up to date with regulatory changes and what is required from an operational perspective,” said Sathyaseelan. “Also, work closely with your vendors as they can support you with guiding you on what products to use.” This can include products with minimal packaging and/or packaging that uses as little plastic as possible — or none.
“Remaining within budget can be difficult,” Carmona added. “So, I would encourage others to shop around for the best prices on compostable products. I would also see where they can implement reusable products as much as possible as this will be more financially beneficial long term.”
Another solution is to seek guidance on best practices for sustainability in the food service industry. Such advice is offered by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Kerry Group and Restaurants Canada, among others.
Finally, becoming truly sustainable requires the right corporate attitude. “Sienna is always looking for opportunities to improve and be part of the change,” said Sathyaseelan. That’s a stance worth adopting by all food service organizations.
A guide to plastics recycling can be found through the David Suzuki Foundation’s Living Green.