Green as a Moral Imperative

Several years ago I decided that in order for me to feel good about what I was providing at the restaurant I needed to align it with how I was leading my personal life. I made several changes, not because I saw this as an opportunity to market the restaurant as an environmentally responsible business , but because I thought it was the right thing to do ethically, environmentally and socially. A few of the changes I made were not well received, as a matter of fact I lost customers over these changes. For instance, we discontinued offering Coke or Pepsi (this created the strongest negative reactions) and switched to all natural sodas. We will only purchase antibiotic and growth hormone-free poultry and meat, we only purchase fish that is recommended by the Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch, all wines are either biodynamic, sustainable or organic and I try to purchase as much local and organic produce that I possibly can. These are just a few of the many changes that have been implemented.
I recently met with a wine representative who had a representative from Rutherford Wines working with her. They presented some wines that were right up my alley. All wines are sustainable and in the process of organic certification. I decided to place two of them on the wine list, the Lander-Jenkins Spirit Hawk Chardonnay (offered by the glass, please ask for a taste) and Scott Pinot Noir. I felt compelled to recognize their commitment to environmental preservation not only because they are operating with a great amount of integrity, but because I decided to "use" a description of their mission for the title of this blog entry: "green as a moral imperative." I derive a great amount of satisfaction from working and partnering with like-minded businesses. You've got to feel good about what you are doing, otherwise why bother?

Amy