The Importance of Sustainability in a Throw Away World

Sustainability is something that, as a chef, is extremely important to me.  Understanding and taking responsibility for your carbon footprint is important but when you're a chef, especially in the sports business where the venue you operate produces thousands of pounds of trash each year, you cannot just look around being sustainable.  It is as much a part of being a chef as cooking food.  It's a decision.  It's a lifestyle you lead, and as a leader when others are watching to see what decisions you are making, it's a responsibility to future generations of chefs and athletes alike. 

At LSU's Athletics Performance Nutrition Center, it’s no different.  We believe in completing the cycle.  Nearly 90 percent of our purchased goods are diverted from landfill to renewable resources. It should also be noted that by doing things this way, we do so because it's the right thing to do, but not the easiest way. These procedural deviations from the stereotypical kitchen adds labor, stress, and responsibilities well beyond what many consider a normal workload. 

These functions can be broken up into three categories - sourcing, operational (pre-consumer) and post-consumer.

Sourcing

In sourcing, we prioritize our purchases by buying from local vendors. This allows us to support local businesses and also reduces the travel time on the products we are purchasing. We source proteins from sustainable farms with similar principals and philosophies and fisheries who are green listed as sustainable fisheries offering sustainable species from local waters.  We purchase locally cultivated and foraged mushrooms, honey, microgreens, tomatoes, and seasonal vegetables from local farmers in the region.  Once the food is received and stored in walk-in coolers, we use carbon filters to absorb ethylene gas to prevent spoilage and prolong shelf life of sensitive veggies. We not only pay attention to the packaging our foods come in but also the packages we send our foods out in as well.  We use only renewable products in compostable and recyclable to-go containers, cutlery kits, cups, straws and even to-go bags.  When sourcing products we don't just look at price and profitability, we purchase what is best for us and the environment in a balanced nature and accept the burden of responsibility as industry leaders.

Operations

Operationally, we employ a grease filtration company (Filta) to prolong grease life and reduce plastics going into the waste stream.  They, in turn, send the grease to a bio diesel plant to have it processed into biodiesel instead of going to a landfill.  One of my personal favorite pieces of sustainability is our food digestor, which is the first of its kind in the state of Louisiana.   We use the food digestor for pre-consumer compostable materials which digests up to 250 pounds of organic matter in 24 hours with bacillus bacteria.  The material leaves the building as grey water and subsequently helps maintain the health of the in-ground grease trap.  This may not seem like much at first glance but when considering trash companies charge by the pound, removing trimmings from fresh vegetables and fruits eliminates most of the water weight. This added process helps reduce fees and ultimately the machine will pay for itself in two years. Another benefit is that we are diverting compostable materials from the waste stream.

Post-Consumer

Being selective about where our refuse goes is JUST as important and impactful as where we source our food from.   In all reality it goes hand in hand.  Once our food has been prepared and comes back from student-athletes and guests to the dish room, those materials are considered as post-consumer.  Here, any organic matter that can be redirected to compost is put into 30 gallon barrels and transported to Port Allen where its fed to black soldier flies, a program offered to us through LSU's Entomology Research Program (soldier fly technologies).  There the organic materials are consumed by black soldier flies and produced into compost which will be installed into a garden at our facility. 

In the spring we are hoping to grow herbs and flowers in a garden which can be used to help educate student-athletes and visitors on the importance of sustainability.  We also hope to utilize water cisterns and capture rainwater which can be used to irrigate alternant season growth in the garden during the dry season.  And last but certainly not least, we employ bee hives in St. Francisville which helps maintain both the flora and fauna by pollinating all the local plants, flowers, shrubs, blueberries, citrus plants, gardens, and any other plant life that is maintained on Earth.  

We all can do our part in making small changes in our lives in order to preserve our heritage and our earth in balance.  

Geaux Green!