. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nfor some, reducing food waste can just mean using more of the food to cook with. both chaia tacos and beefsteak said that to reduce food waste, they use every part of their vegetables. founding farmers, however, turns to composting for their waste.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\naccording to ferguson, founding farmers composts \u201csomewhere in the neighborhood of probably 1500 pounds to up to 3500 pounds a week.\u201d the only thing that can not be composted, he said, are their doughy materials and bone. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
the interior of founding farmers. (founding farmers\/cc by 2.0 deed)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\u201chere, any leftover food goes into a specific leftover trash can and then it gets composted,\u201d ferguson said. \u201cso whatever we can save there isn\u2019t going to a landfill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\ndepending on which location, founding farmers’ food waste is either composted directly on site or is transported to an off-site location, adding some additional emissions through the transport.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nweighing the costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n in our conversations with these restaurants, a common thread was that locally sourcing sustainable ingredients is more costly<\/span> for the businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cnow things have changed, and we try to push the risk and the financial burden it has on us to remain true to who we are,\u201d juan dromgoole, director of operations at chaia tacos said in an interview. \u201cwe really do try to put an effort into sourcing with the right people and working with the right vendors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nferguson echoed similar sentiments. according to him, sourcing and eating sustainably is pretty much always going to be more expensive than not. however, there are ways for these restaurants to drive down costs that simply are not an option for the everyday american, such as buying ingredients in bulk. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cit is quite the oxymoron that it costs you more to do it better or eat healthier,\u201d ferguson said. \u201cpricing of course matters, but we\u2019re never going to save money and give up the sustainability part of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nthis type of local sourcing can also be quite taxing on the farmers. dromgoole told us that some ingredients are harder to get locally than others. potatoes, for instance, are a struggle for chaia to source sustainably, as the amount required for their restaurant is too much for smaller farmers to consistently provide. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nsustainability goes beyond the menu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n while sustainable eating is closely tied to sustainable food production, these restaurants\u2019 practices go far beyond their sourcing. by continuing the practice of sustainability in their daily operations, they are able to cut their emissions far beyond just their customer\u2019s diets.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nbeefsteak, for example, use sugar cane fiber and corn plastics for all of their to-go packaging. they also use a type of oven powered mostly by water, drastically cutting down their gas uses compared to other dining establishments.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nfounding farmers also takes significant measures to reduce their emissions. and in contrast to their sustainable sourcing, ferguson says that these steps actually save them money in the long run. their establishment features energy meters in the restaurant to give them an idea of energy usage and its environmental impact, allowing them to constantly make changes for the most efficient and sustainable energy usage.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cevery month we\u2019re reviewing those things, and if there\u2019s a better way, we\u2019ll do it,\u201d ferguson said. \u201ceverything matters. how we use it, what we\u2019re using it for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nthese measures, ferguson says, actually wind up saving organizations money in the long term. unlike sustainable sourcing which is often more expensive for restaurants, by limiting water or energy usage to sustainable standards, restaurants avoid using an excess, saving them money on monthly bills. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n