ADA Regulations 

Do you know how the new ADA regulations will affect your employees?  Test your knowledge with this quiz!

 Food and Beverage

Bring Sustainability to Food and Beverage Services with a Focus on Food

 By Cheryl Baldwin, Ph.D. Vice President of Science and Standards at Green Seal

Businesses that incorporate sustainable practices benefit with increased financial success. This was illustrated during the economic downturn in 2008-2009, when businesses committed to sustainability financially outperformed industry averages by 15 percent (Mahler et al., 2009). Sustainable practices in lodging and hospitality have traditionally translated to energy and water efficiency and waste reduction, for the rooms and conference space. For the food and beverage services, however, the focus should be on food.

Why food? The production, distribution, preparation, and disposal of food are sources of enormous environmental damage. The amount of energy used to produce, process, package, store, and transport food is seven-and-a-half times the amount of energy the food actually provides in return (Heller and Keoleian, 2000). This has led to the food supply contributing significantly to climate change, responsible for about one-third of global greenhouse gasses (Bellarby et al., 2008). Agriculture is also one of the primary sources of biodiversity loss (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2010). Topsoil is being lost at rates significantly greater than it is being formed. Agriculture is responsible for two-thirds of fresh water use and 70 percent of the pollution of rivers and streams (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1995; United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1998). As a result, most of the environmental impact from the day-to-day operation from food and beverage services isn't from energy or water use, it is from the food purchased or wasted (Baldwin et al., 2010). The damage from food - the "foodprint" - can be reduced to become more sustainable and better for the planet, its people, and your bottom line.

Eliminating food purchases would certainly improve the environmental footprint of your food and beverage service, but wouldn't be good for business - food must be purchased. What can help is reducing wasted food and making more responsible food choices.

Reduce Food Waste

Reducing the amount of wasted food is one of the most effective sustainability practices to add, and perfect, in food and beverage services because it eliminates all the inputs and impacts of producing the food in the first place - and saves you money. Typically 4 percent to 10 percent of food purchased at a food service operation is wasted before it reaches the customer (LeanPath, 2008). In addition, diners leave about 17 percent of their meals uneaten (Bloom, 2010). There are many approaches to reducing wasted food such as, precise forecasting, reducing trim waste (yield testing can help manage this), better portioning, and improved ordering practices (Green Seal, 2008; Gossling et al., 2010). However, effective food waste reduction, and associated cost savings, first begins by:

• Conducting a baseline waste audit and assess current practices. To reduce waste you have to know how much there is and where it is coming from. Measure all the food waste from the kitchen and customer waste. Pay attention and record how it was made and why. This will help determine which practices should be implemented to reduce food waste.
• Creating a food waste management plan - following the food waste hierarchy. What are the goals (be specific) and how will they be achieved (what is changing)?
• Monitoring progress to ensure that the plan is being followed and is effective at achieving the goals.   If it isn't, then make appropriate changes to get to your goals. 

Choose Responsible Food

In addition to reducing wasted food, making different choices on food purchased can shrink the "foodprint." This can be achieved by two ways, 1) purchasing responsibly grown options, such as those with reduced fertilizer and other inputs (e.g., organic), less tillage, and well-managed grazing (Bellarby et al., 2008; Cederberg, 2003) and 2) choosing food with a small environmental burden. Red meat typically has the highest environmental burden of food choices - poultry and pork are not as high a burden as red meat - and vegetables and grains usually have a very small "foodprint" (Gossling et al., 2010). However, any kind of food grown in heated greenhouses or transported by airplane can come with a very high burden (Mogensen et al., 2009). Credible certification programs can help you identify responsibly grown options such as: USDA Organic, Food Alliance, Rainforest Alliance, Protected Harvest, Marine Stewardship Council, Best Aquaculture Practices Certification, and Bird Friendly.

Switching to a responsible menu doesn't have to cost more, and can result in savings by:

• Reducing red meat with portion size adjustments or by replacing an entrée. Red meat is expensive to finding ways to trim down the amount purchased saves money.
• Increasing vegetarian options. These tend to be low-cost items to help save money.
• Sourcing seasonal and local sustainable options since they are usually lower-cost.
• Choosing fresh sustainable options with less packaging. Processing and packaging cost you money and add to the environmental burden of the food.
• Buying fish that is not at risk of being overfished. Many facilities that feature more sustainable seafood options find that they end up being big sellers.
• Being flexible. Have menus and recipes that can be easily adaptable to allow for food cost optimizing as seasons and availability changes. 

Details about adding sustainability to food and beverage services, including more about how to focus on food, are covered in the new book, Greening Food and Beverage Services: A Green Seal Guide to Transforming the Industry. The book covers environmental challenges that result from food and beverage services and ways to address them that lead to lasting business benefits. A range of food services have started on this path, from small independent coffee shops to national conference centers and every cafeteria, restaurant, and catering service between. Many stories of these leaders are included in the book to help inspire such change and to outline how to implement the changes.

From the Front Desk

The AkH&LA Raffle is back in "Action" and we are excited about the opportunity to put some Benjamins in your pocket. Help support our Government Relations Program by purchasing tickets to our 2011 Raffle.

This year we are doing cash prizes

Grand Prize: $2500

1st Prize: $1000

Three 3rd Place Prizes: $500

The more tickets you purchase, the greater your chance to win up to $5000 in cash!

Only 1200 tickets will be sold this year.

Get yours now! Tickets are $20 each

Ticket holders do not need to be present to win. 

The drawing will be held  October 31, 2011.

All tickets sales must be reported and turned into the AkH&LA office no later than October 14th! 

Contact our office at 272-1229 for more information

Events

Its that time of year again!  It's time to nominate your Star Performers for the 2011 Stars of the Industry Awards Program!  This star studded awards gala, to be held Saturday, January 14, 2012 at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel, honors and celebrates outstanding service and achievement in the lodging and hospitality industry during 2011.  It recognizes lodging employees and supplier members who symbolize the highest quality service in Alaska's Hospitality Industry.  We've also expanded our Allied section to include individual awards for vendor employees and managers.  Nominate your Star Performers for this industry award and give us all an opportunity to commend their dedication and star achievements!

To help make this event successful we need nominations from you! 

Take a few moments and reflect upon your star performers of this past year.  Pass this on to your Human Resources Director and staff so they can shine light on the superior service providers who made a difference in 2011.   Also consider the vendors you do business with that are members of the organization. We can supply you with posters to display at your property or business so your entire staff can take part in this by honoring a fellow employee. You may also want to consider star performers from other properties or businesses that you would like to see celebrated for their efforts to make our industry shine. 

Nominations are due November 1, 2011.  Look for your nomination packet in the mail!  Contact our office at 272-1229 for a nomination form, or download a form from our website www.akhla.org

AH&LA 2011 Fall Conference

Held in conjunction with the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show
November 11-15, 2011
New York, New York

 
As 30,000 hospitality professionals arrive at the world's largest tradeshow, share insight, exchange strategies, and network with an exclusive mix of hotel owners and general managers.

Come to the AH&LA Fall Conference and join preeminent industry leaders for the:

· AH&LA Welcome Reception
· Hospitality Leadership Forum
· HotelPAC Reception and Auction
· AH&LA Board of Directors meeting
· AH&LA Inaugural Gala honoring Incoming Chair Nancy Johnson, CHA, executive vice president and chief development officer, Americas, Carlson Hotels Worldwide
· Committee meetings 

Membership Spotlight

Starting in November we will be featuring one member each month in our newsletter.  Take advantage of this opportunity to promote your property or business!  Contact us at 272-1229 for more information. 

Put your business in the hospitality industry spotlight!

Education

Upcoming Events

Information Center

For more details, visit AH&LA's Website.

For questions, please contact AH&LA Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs Kevin Maher at kmaher@ahla.com or (202) 289-3147.

Looking for more?  The AH&LA Information Center has a variety of articles and resources covering every area of a lodging property.  Contact Tamika Figgs, research manager, at (888) 743-2515 or tfiggs@ahla.com to have resources sent to you or your members. 

AkHLA Classifieds

From time to time we're contacted by members looking for certain items for their properties, ways to get rid of certain reusable items during remodels, need for employees, etc. This classified section will be included in every newsletter issue to help members get this type of information out to the industry.  If you have a need or want us to get the word out on something send them to Kendra Hamilton in the AkH&LA office at kendra@akhla.org