P reparing for the shifts in Foodservice concerning Ethical Food

1. Preparing for the shifts in Foodservice concerning Ethical Food

2. Industrialized to Sustainable food production • A once subtle shift is now occurring at an accelerated rate • Consumer awareness concerning where our food comes from is growing at a rapid rate • Creating a radical shift in the food industry • Ethically produced food has become a mass-market phenomenon • Ethical issues are emerging around production and packaging • Unilever CEO Paul Polman called for radical changes in the system of food production.

3. "Based on UN projections, there will be 3bn extra mouths to feed by 2050, which equates to 70% more food than we're currently producing," Polman said & suggest 4 core proposals to tackle the dilemma: • The widespread adoption of sustainable farming practices; • Government commitment to investment in agriculture; • The removal of "market-distorting subsidies and incentives"; • The freedom to trade without barriers

4. Evidence of the shift • conscious consumer groups, corporate vendors & professional associations • informative web-sites • shifts in organic farming & sales • mass production of “ethical food” • a flood of new terms defining food • conscious options on menus • conscious restaurant concepts

5. THE FARM

6. significant shifts in farming • Synthetic fertilizers introduced to farming (1940s) making possible mass production • Uses of Corn-cheap feed to creatively arranged molecules comprising product “ingredients” • Subsidized crops creating commodity food • Mono-cultures (corn, soy, CAFCO)* • Altering animals diets to corn (instead of pasture feed) or from an herbivore to an omnivore even cannibalistic • GMOs lead to more yield • Monsanto patents life (round-up ready seed)

7. Results: • An over abundance of the species pest –more pesticides needed to control it • Soil depletion-need for fertilizers • Weed overgrowth-need for weed killer • New disease causing bacteria (E. Coli)-need for antibiotics and or more chemicals • Pollution and Waste (synthetic nitrogen & manure) • A few companies have power * • Dependent on inputs (oil, feed, chemicals… • More vulnerable • Control over farmers (seeds, chicken houses…)

8. Factory Farms & CAFCO • run like a factory -actually require about 50 gallons of oil (form of chemical fertilizers) per acre of corn or more than one calorie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of food. • Factory farms are ecologically expensive but economically cheap. • Animals feed: liquefied fat, corn & grains • Growth Hormones are injected to increase yield and shorten growth time

9. Organic Farming • Movement (1943) to Big Business(1990s) • the organic farming movement began at the same time the industrialized farming was being developed in response to chemicals being introduced to farming Used a systems approach- mimicking nature-sustainable • Government regulation of organic begins • After a long process (7 yrs), in 1997 a vague definition of organic allows for GMOs, sewage sludge & irradiation • Standards continued to be modified as “the old movement & “the new industry” battle it out

10. Result • A definition that supports a more environmentally responsible kind of farming but it still allows room for isolation thinking instead of systems approach thinking.

11. Understanding terms • Certified Organic meat, poultry, egg and dairy come from animals that are given no anti-biotics, steroids or growth hormones. It is produced without using conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage, bioengineering or ionization radiation. Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources, the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. • Federal law strictly prohibits synthetic additives in organic foods unless the additive appears on the USDA’s National Organic Program’s list of allowed substances.  Ingredients are included on this list only after careful review and approval by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), an expert advisory panel, and the Secretary of Agriculture.

12. National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)   • http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/NOSB • Recommendations made by the NOSB are not official policy until they are approved and adopted by USDA. • The current board is comprised of: 4 farmers/growers, 2 handlers/processors, 1 retailer, 1 scientist, 3 consumer/public interest advocates, 3 environmentalists, & 1 USDA accredited certifying agent. Members come from all four U.S. regions. 

13. organic farming & sales • Small organic farmers into mainstream production • Big Corporations are buying organic farms • Stoneyfield Farm, owned by Dannon-a $365 million organic yogurt manufacturer and the biggest in the country • Cascadian Farms, now a subsidiary of General Mills, acquires Muir Glenn • Organic sales in 2009 represented a 5.1 percent growth over 2008 sales • indicating the consumers’ preference and priority for conscious food even during the economic recession • Industrial organic farms are dominating the market (based on high yields and isolation thinking)

14. Organic/Local Farming • Farmers Market • Growth: from 1994 to 2010 –a 249% increase. And from 2009 to 2010 -a 16% increase • Farming Alliances • Good Nature Family Farms- an alliance of 75 farmers in Kansas City, MO they sell their products to independent grocery stores • Sustainable Farming • Urban Farms (usually sustainable)

15. Farming practices compared

16. It has been proven that a medium size sustainable organic farm is far more productive per acre than industrial agriculture (costs: feed, fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, waste management, petroleum) • Science supports: • Polycultures are more productive & less prone to disease • Plants grown in synthetically fertilized soils are: • less nourishing than those grown in composted soil • more vulnerable to diseases and insect pests

17. “ How we farm & ultimately our food choices are ethical questions” -Joel Salatin, Polyface farms • He makes $3,000 an acre VS. $150 an acre for industrial farms • He has not planted a chemical fertilizer or bought a seed in 50 years. • He is not an organic farm but he is a sustainable farm 

18. Understanding terms • sustainable agriculture: “an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term, satisfy human food and fiber needs; enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends; make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls; sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”

19. “Growing meat on grasses makes perfect ecological sense a sustainable –solar powered food chain that produces food by transforming sunlight to protein.” - Micahel Pollan The Ominvores Dilema p. 70

20. THE CONSUMER’s HEALTH

21. Industrial processing has made energy dense food the cheapest to buy-cheapest calories are the unhealthiest • $1 buys 1200 calories of potato chips • $1 buys 250 calories of carrots • Isotope comparison tests show Americans are mostly corn and more so than any other culture*

22. WHY we consist of so much corn? • Corn feeds our meat (cow, pig, turkey, lamb…even fish!) • Corn feeds our dairy (cheese, milk…) • Corn in various intricate manifestations (sweetener, preservative, leavening agent, flour, oil…) is most of our processed foods • Some 45,000 items in the avg. American supermarket and more than a quarter contain corn.

23. Just as we see in nature with monocultures, the same is true for “monodiets” • We eat what the animal eats (corn, oil, liquefied fat, hormones, antibiotics…) • Most chemically or synthetically modified foods are not recognized as food by our bodies systems* • Result: • Disease: increase in variety & growth rates • Resistance to antibiotics • New allergies

24. Systems Approach Independent parts: Human (farmer, worker, consumer, government) Land, and Animals Goal: to economically (affordable and at a profit) produce enough food to feed the population while take caring of the health of the environment, human, animal and community • By design it will flow (operate) as a harmonious system with all constituents (internal & external) as one. All decision are made to maintain this flow (based on how it impacts each constituent, not in isolation) • If you want to observe a system that operates in flow and harmony with itself-observe nature.

25. Ethically produced food a mass-market phenomenon in the food industry Respondents agree to the following criteria for ethical food: • avoid harming the environment • meet high safety standards • use environmentally sustainable practices • avoid inhumane treatment of animals • be produced to high quality standards

26. Ethical Food • Ethical food accounts for a small percentage of the total food produced yet there seems to be a growing number of “so-claimed” ethical food products being sold on the market.

27. Why are you selling ethical food? • Is the foodservice operation selling an ethical food because they believe in the product or as a business decision in response to consumer demand? • If based on a belief you will want to make ethical choices around that belief. In order to do so: • understand the terminology & it real meaning • Learn how to read labels & seek out the information you want to know about a product.

28. Understanding Ethical Food Terms • not all emerging terms defining ethical food are being used in an ethical manner & most are unregulated, unmonitored and/or the definition is vague or minimal • claims of “free-range” in reality can mean the birds stay indoors because their access to the outdoors is inadequate or their foods source is inside • "all-natural," meanwhile, is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture only as "minimally processed" with no artificial ingredients or colors. Regulated only for meat

29. Understanding terms • Grass/pasture fed: for pasture fed animals, grass is the forage that composes all or at least the great majority of their diet. Cattle fattened in feedlots are fed small amounts of hay or straw supplemented with grain, soy and other ingredients in order to increase the energy density of the diet • Free-range: USDA certified access to the outdoors. Great in theory but reality is: Few chickens choose this option since-1. Food, water and flock remain indoors 2. Doors remains shut first 5 weeks of life until settled in their indoor habit

30. “ethical food” (or not) in the marketplace • Some restaurants have been caught claiming their food product is locally sourced when in reality they are purchasing 1 or 2 boxes of the food from the local farm and 10 from the commercial supplier • Some suppliers have been caught using terms in a misleading manner or certification violations

31. conscious restaurant concepts • restaurants build their image around conscious food • Chipotle Mexican Grill • Elevation Burger • Ted’s Montana Grill • Bon Appétit Management • Wolfgang Puck Companies • Pizza Fusion • Seller’s market

32. Dean Foods, includes a synthetic nutritional oil that is prohibited in organics.  The product, Horizon Fat-Free Milk Plus DHA Omega-3, bears the USDA organic seal despite a ruling in 2010 by the USDA that the proprietary DHA oil, an ingredient derived from algae, is not legal in organic production • Hearthside Food Solutionsmanufacturer of Peace Cereal, claims “natural” breakfast cereals are grown and processed without pesticides or artificial additives, as well as being minimally processed and preservative-free.”

33. conscious consumer groups • The slow food movement’s rapid growth (20,000 from 2008 to 2010) Started in Italy in 1989 and now globally has more than 100,000 members in 50 countries • Mission-to educate consumers on land stewardship and ecologically sound food production; cooking to strengthen relationships between people; further consumption of organic, local, seasonal food; and create collaborative ecologically oriented community • DEMONSTRATES A SHIFT IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND A CALL TO ACTION

34. Sysco • The FreshPoint produce division has a partnership with Produce Marketing Association (PMA) & PrimusLabs that takes local produce safety directly to small framers interested in selling through the foodservice channel. • Educating small farmers on food safety mandates and how to build a solid food safety program that meets distributor and operator requirements.

35. PMA & NRAProduce Marketing Assoc. & National Restaurant Assoc. • Foodservice 2020 Initiative: goal is to increase fresh produce use in restaurants • Educate the buyers (operators and distributors) • basic care handling techniques that can enhance flavor & food safety • Packaging that protects against contamination • Seeds that protect against E.coli • how produce can lower plate costs

36. informative web-sites • formative web-sites that report on company practices include: • greenopia • directory of eco-friendly retailers, services, and organizations based on extensive unpaid/unbiased research on those listed in the guide • cornucopia institute • organic egg scorecard rates companies that market name-brand and private-label organic “shell” eggs based on 22 criteria that are important to organic consumers

37. informative web-sites • The Eat Well Guide • listings of farms, restaurants, and other organizations that demonstrate a commitment to food and farming that supports local food systems including: • Sustainable
Organic
Locally sourced/distributed
Ethically produced • http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home

38. Cornucopia Institute • Brands with a 1 egg rating: (produced on industrial farms that house hundreds of thousands of birds and do not grant the birds meaningful outdoor access. ) • There are 33 organic eggs on the market with a one rating • Some familiar brands: Trader Joes, 365 organics by Whole foods, Kirkland Signature by Costco, and Horizon

39. 5 Rating • Nationwide there are 36 companies with a rating of 5 which are mostly isolated to an area or state • Only 5 in certain areas of CA: • Northern California: Organic Pastures &  Alexandre Kids • Other areas of CA: Full Circle Dairy, Elkhorn Organics, & St. John Family Farm 

40. Review “Latest Scams” article

41. Reading Labels • Understand the terms • Read ingredient labels not claims on the front! • The longer the list the more additives, chemicals and synthetic ingredients • How many items do you have no idea what it is? • “if you can not pronounce it don’t eat it” • Ask yourself how many ingredients are needed to make this product • Ingredients are listed in the order of contribution to the product • Look for the ingredients claimed on the label in the ingredient list (ie-multi-grain, oats, real cheese….)

42. Reading Labels • Be aware of health by association (Cheerios (banana nut) & Organic (with additives) • Read nutrition information and compare to claimed ingredients (almonds high in protein) • Read nutrition information and portion size! • Read unbiased product/company review • Look for 3rd party certifications (Green Seal of approval, certified organic, fair trade…) • Read source (where and who)

43. Is it an Ethical Product? • How is it packaged? • Who Manufactures it? • How is it disposed of?  • Are their any certifying bodies? • How is it produced? (sustainable, industrial, Organic, organic industrial, belief based…) • Are they using a Systems Approach?

44. THE ROLE OF FOODSERVICE

45. Foodservice’s Role • Considering that our industry plays a major role in providing food for consumption to the general population, we have a responsibility to provide at minimum safe food all the way to high quality nutritious food • What responsibility do we have to provide ethical food?

46. Ethical Food Purchasing • Source: Where will you purchase your food? Consider advantages & disadvantages of each and justify your choice • Farmers Market, Corporate Food Vendor, Direct from Farm, Hyper-Local (Restaurant garden), Urban Farm • Parameters to assure Food safety (operators and distributors) • Transportation/Delivery • Storage • Packaging

47. Ethical Food Purchasing • Based on where you purchase your food, how does it change your food safety concerns • FAT –TOM- Food, Acid, Time, Temperature, Oxygen, and Moisture EXAMPLE: • farmers market purchases: • Transportation • Storage (packaging & label) • Properly clean and wash food

48. sourcing locally, and organic • Costs can be 10 to 20 percent more than wholesale • more limited and unpredictable (less consistency) • Quality • Understand terms like "sustainable” ,"artisan”, “organic”, “free-range”, “natural”…. • Quantity

49. Role of Foodservice and Ethical food PRODUCTION PACKAGING Do food purchasers have a right to know how their food was grown beyond industry defined terms? Is Ethical food an area of CSR for restaurants? Does a claim on a menu have to be true 100% of the time? Are the current definitions of food terms clear or misleading? What do they mean? Should they be regulated? • Do farms have a responsibility to use farming practices that produce ethical food? • Does how we produce our food affect our health? • Can a farm produce ethical food for the mass population and still operate at a profit? • Do restaurants have a responsibility to the consumer in regards to how the food is grown? How it is produced? Labeled? • Is mass production organic farming in support of the new food revolution?

50. Case Study: McDonald’s Employee