Restaurant Revolution

Walk into your kitchen and look into your refrigerator or pantry. What do you see? The simple reply would be food, but do you know where your food comes from? The food in your kitchen can say organic, but most likely your food came from some distant city or country thousands of miles away from your home. Some farmer probably used a gas powered machine to harvest your apple before it ripens; it then traveled in a refrigerated truck across the country to your local grocery store; then sat in your grocery store for some time before you picked it up and placed it in a fruit basket in your kitchen. This food cycle has a large carbon footprint, which contributes to the tons of green house gases released into the atmosphere depleting our ozone layer.

So, you are probably asking what can I do to practice more sustainable forms of consuming? Well, the answer is simple source your food locally. This means walking, biking, busing, or ride sharing to your local community garden or local farm. However, if you are like thousands of people around the world with not much time for cooking lunch or dinner you probably like to stop by a restaurant near your workplace or home for a bite to eat. Do not fret you can still practice sustainable consuming because numerous restaurants around the world and even in your own city joined the green revolution. These restaurants locally source their ingredients, serve seasonal foods, recycle, and compost. Not only do these practices reduce the amount of carbon entering our atmosphere, but also supports the local economy. I currently reside in San Francisco seen by many people as a place of hippies and tree huggers, but in reality this city contains everyday people doing more than their part to save the planet we live on by applying sustainable habits to everyday life. I discovered, researched, and dined at three restaurants within San Francisco, which apply the previously mentioned practices to the running of their businesses. These restaurants have taken the first steps towards transitioning to a post-carbon city by providing and educating people on sustainable methods for dining.

Mixt Greens

· 560 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

· 475 Sansome Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

· 120 Sansome Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

This restaurant has locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. It goes beyond eco-friendly dining, and practices green building with the use of VOC paint, formaldehyde-free plywood, and dining tables constructed of 100% recycled detergent bottles. They have even started testing the waters with “living walls” with the start of vertical farming at some of their locations. The restaurant practices composting and recycling, which prevents 90% of their waste from entering the landfills. They accomplish this by using 100% biodegradable and compostable packaging for to-go orders, reusable utensils for dining in house, and water pitchers to deter the use of water bottles. Each of the ingredients for the meals contains produce sourced locally and seasonally picked within a 150-mile radius from each restaurant. The restaurants reasoning behind this is that “this is the way Mother Nature intends us to eat.” Digging deeper into the workings of the restaurant, I also discovered that they participate in the program Renewable Choice, which is a program that helps businesses measure and offset their carbon footprint. This program ensures that most of the energy for the Mixt Greens restaurants is generated from wind power. The restaurant goes beyond just lowering carbon emissions for a better Earth, but also reaches out to the community by supporting non-profit environmental organizations and educating the community. They accomplish this through contributing to groups such as, the CAFF (Community Alliance With Family Farmers) and Slow Food USA. Their menu consists of salads and sandwiches, and you can even design your own salad. For a salad, I highly recommend the “bachelor” if you are a fan of blue cheese, caramelized onions, and balsamic vinaigrette, but it is one of the pricier salads on the menu at $11.95. The delicious mixture of flavors in your mouth on the first bite is totally worth it. J For a sandwich, if you are a fan of turkey, the disco consists of house roasted turkey breast, vine-ripened tomatoes, applewoood smoked bacon, butter lettuce, harissa chile aïoli, on an herb slab, which will make your taste buds very happy. If you want to get more of a gander at their delicious grub, you can visit their website at http://mixtgreens.com/.

Café Gratitude

· 2400 Harrison Street (at 20th Street)
San Francisco, CA 94110

· 1730 Shattuck Ave (at Virginia)
Berkeley, CA 94709

The first time I visited this establishment, I felt a little eerie about eating vegan and raw food; however, it turned out tasting very delicious. You may find yourself asking, “What is raw food?” Purely raw food consists solely of plant foods, such as vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, and nuts. NO ANIMALS. Raw food, also referred to as ‘live food,’ does not cook over 38^o C or 105^o F because any hotter would kill the enzymes, vitamins, and minerals found in the food. Cooking food above this temperature destroys 70% to 100% of the active enzymes in food, which helps to digest food providing more energy for your body and facilitates metabolic processes in your body.

As one of their main goals, the restaurant seeks to encourage their patrons to appreciate the food they consume and where it comes from. They have a fun menu with quirky names for every item, such as “I AM ADVENTUROUS” or “I AM NOURISHED.” This restaurant provides the community with 100% organic vegan dishes and some locations have even started serving cooked foods. They source all produce from their own farm in Vacaville, CA called Be Love Farm, and return the compost from their restaurants to the soil at the farm to nourish the produce for future meals. You can also visit the farm on Tuesdays by emailing marta@cafegratitude.com. You must arrive by 10 A.M., be prepared to work until lunchtime for a shared farm meal, and continue working till 4 P.M. (They also suggest on hot days to bring a swimsuit.) They also use 100% non-bleached cotton cloths as napkins, and after the napkins have fulfilled their purpose they are sent to other companies for use as rags. This restaurant also filters their own water on location, and discourages the use of plastic containers and water bottles in their restaurants and retail stores. The restaurant sells books printed on recycle paper with soy based ink and food products, such as “I AM ALIVE” KIM CHEE in glass containers.

They celebrate the life of people and the planet through their view of “Sacred Commerce” which means they “celebrate mistakes, commit to strong communication, and give gratitude for our lives.” This outlook helps to promote the strength and relationship of community, which needs more emphasis today in order for us to move towards a post-carbon city. In envisioning a city beyond carbon, our daily habits become more local and the community becomes more important in our lives. Café Gratitude also provides workshops and classes, such as “Raw food for busy people” or a “Raw Dessert Class.” These events and any further information can be found on their website http://www.cafegratitude.com/. If you plan on paying a visit to this lovely establishment, I highly recommend ordering, “I AM COMPLETE,” which is one of their raw specialties. It is a Mediterranean plate of almond hummus, olive tapenade, live, falafels, cucumber tzatziki salad, and a live cracker. As for a drink “I AM EFFERVESCENT” contains ginger and lemon juice with agave and natural sparkling water.

Sellers Markets

· 388 Market St.

San Francisco, CA 94111

· 595 Market St.

San Francisco CA 94105

One can find this restaurant, whose main goal is to succeed as a socially and environmentally responsible business, in the center of the San Francisco Financial District. This eatery provides meals comprised of all-natural, organic ingredients for the “fast-casual” diners. 90% of all produce comes from local businesses that practice organic or sustainable agriculture. This system of business benefits the community and environment by supplying an income for these local farm families, ensuring fair treatment to the farm workers and even the farm animals, and sustains the natural environment. The Seller’s Market was also one of the first eating establishments to practice composting before it was mandated by the city. They compost over 120,000 pounds each year and over 500,000 pounds since they opened. They also use recycled and reclaimed materials for the building of their restaurants along with green manufactured equipment used in the kitchens for preparing food. This restaurant shows that eating eco-friendly can also transfer into the fine dining experience. They have one the Greenopia Award, which was given to them for 90% of their food and beverages being local, organic, and sustainable. This restaurant also seeks to educate the community on their practices by getting involved at the city and state level to shed light on more sustainable habits for the community. They do this by holding ‘sustainable socials’ to educated others about green practices and issues. The Seller’s Market also helps to serve the community by making contributions to organizations, such as the Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief. One interesting belief of the restaurant focuses on getting the community to demand more organic and sustainable food because that is the only way farmers will provide more organic and sustainable produce. If you want to bite into some yummy food that will make you forget all your problems, I suggest trying the all-natural turkey and California brie sandwich, or for you cheese lovers, the grilled cheese with pepper jack and cheddar or their twist on mac and cheese with Point Reyes blue cheese. They also provide breakfast treats, local wines and beers, sandwiches, soups and pizza which can all be seen on their website http://www.sellersmarkets.com/index.html.