Make a Difference this Earth Day with Stag Dining, Zero Foodprint and Replate
For more than 50 years, Earth Day has been observed on April 22nd, inspiring Americans and our global neighbors to take action against environmental degradation and fight to preserve and protect the world we share. Contributing to a flourishing world through sustainable sourcing and other eco-conscious practices has always been a core value for Stag Dining Group, so this holiday is close to our hearts.
The theme of Earth Day 2022 is Invest In Our Planet. We wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the ways that Stag Dining invests in our planet, and how you can participate by partnering with us for your next event.
Clos Du Val Vineyard | Photo: Julia Moon
investing in regenerative farming with Zero Foodprint
Stag Dining Group joined Zero Foodprint in 2020 to advance our commitment to sustainable sourcing and support the need for and impact of restorative agricultural practices.
The global food system contributes to about half of all greenhouse gas emissions around the world–but it can also be part of the solution. “Regenerative farming” (or “carbon farming”) refers to a broad set of agricultural practices that harness plants’ power of photosynthesis to sequester carbon in the soil while improving soil health, crop yields, water resilience, and nutrient density. A growing movement of farmers and ranchers want to use their land to solve climate change but need funding to implement regenerative farming practices.
Named “2020 Humanitarian of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation, Zero Foodprint (ZFP) provides a mechanism by which everyone who is a part of the global food system–restaurants, food brands, farmers, and diners–can contribute to climate neutrality efforts in a more tangibly impactful way than purchasing carbon offsets while benefiting the communities that make our dining experiences possible:
As a participating business, Stag Dining sends 1% of all food and beverage revenue to ZFP.
ZFP then optimally and equitably distributes Restore Grants to farmers for healthy soil projects, which are verified and supported by local trusted conservation experts.
ZFP co-founder and Executive Director Anthony Mynt (Mission Chinese Food, The Perennial) is a longtime collaborator of Stag Dining Chefs Jordan Grosser and Ted Fleury, going back to the Mission Street Food pop-up series in 2010s. Anthony provided training for our staff at Cerf Club when we were onboarded in early 2020 as the first California Catering & Events business to participate with the initiative.
Bleu Belle Farms | Photo: Jordan Wise
Fighting food waste & food insecurity with Replate
With the return of large scale corporate events in 2021, Stag Dining has partnered with Replate, a nonprofit working to reduce food waste and increase food access while doing so.
According to Project Drawdown, a thought-leader on climate change mitigation solutions, food waste is a leading–but preventable–cause of emissions and misuse of resources including water. “Roughly a third of the world’s food is never eaten, which means land and resources used and greenhouse gasses emitted in producing it were unnecessary. Interventions can reduce loss and waste, as food moves from farm to fork, thereby reducing overall demand.”
Stag Dining takes a number of steps to address our contributions to the problem of food waste.
First and foremost, we strive to eliminate food waste from the start by ordering and preparing food quantities that are in line with guest counts.
We repurpose surplus food to meals for our vendors and staff.
For large scale projects, we partner with food rescue services to donate surplus food with communities in need.
One of our food rescue partners is Replate. Replate provides caterers, restaurants and office meal services with access to their web app where you can schedule a pickup of your surplus food. Replate picks up that food and delivers it to a local charitable organization, such as Glide Memorial, that serves communities experiencing food insecurity and homelessness. We partnered with Replate for the Traverse 2021 Travel & Expense Festival at the Palace of Fine Arts last September and we’re thrilled with the impact we were able to have:
Stag Dining will continue to publish reports from projects that we are involved in with Replate, sharing our results as a way to hold ourselves accountable to improving our sustainable practices.