The Food Scout

When it comes to quantifying environmental savings, the impact just from food industry changes boggles the mind. But these numbers don't impress everyone, however. The proliferation of Green claims in the media has inspired a term called “greenwashing,” and now sustainability efforts are being measured and judged for their significance and authenticity before being endorsed. The risk that companies now face is potential consumer backlash for efforts that are deemed misleading or unworthy. Here’s the rest of the list of the major types of initiatives and the reactions they have inspired: Recycled News:  It’s getting easier to source cups, napkins and other paper goods that have some recycled materials in them, ...

When it comes to quantifying environmental savings, the impact just from the biggest QSR chains already boggles the mind: Domino’s has saved about 13 million trees—or 800,000 tons of cardboard—since cutting off the corners of its pizza boxes nearly 20 years ago. McDonald’s prevented about 80,000 pounds of pollution from hitting the air last year through its enviro-conscious building efforts. And Starbucks has not only saved more than 62,000 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions via wind power, but is single-handedly saving village economies and ecosystems from collapse in South America with its ethical coffee-buying policies! These numbers impress not everyone, however. Whereas in recent years a restaurant’s carbon-reduction efforts were ...

I sigh when I see neighbors and friends sorting their garbage. It’s a noble effort, but it’s like telling yourself you can save the Amazon rainforests by watering a tree in your backyard. The impact of the effort on the problem is just too small, even if you could convince everyone to do the same thing. And so it is with energy savings and global warming. But when Big Business makes a change, the impact is instantly substantial and measurable. And companies are discovering that “being green” doesn’t have to cost more money; in fact, a concerted effort to reduce emissions and waste can save millions of dollars a year.

It’s happening again. This whole “sustainable” thing is just Version 2.0 of the environmental trend of the early ‘90s that quickly moved away from solving the big issues and instead focused on whether plastic vs. paper grocery bags, or glass vs. plastic or aluminum bottles were the more enviro-friendly choices to save the planet. We’re still having to make a choice of bags at the grocery store (oh, but now there are also tote bags you can buy like the ones at Trader Joe’s that you bring with you every time so you can look superior to the slobs who have to store all those grocery bags), and the planet is still in trouble.

Okay, I’ll save you a trip to the dictionary. Xenophobia (pronounced zen-oh-foh-bee-uh) means “fear of foreigners.” It is a ten-dollar word that sticks with me because it is one I happened to scan in my textbook just before closing it to take a Poly Sci exam in college and it ended up being on the test. But I’m bringing it out of my past into this blog because it appropriately describes the cloud that’s beginning to hover over the food supply and is likely to have a growing effect on food sourcing and distribution.