CSR: Four ways to support Sustainability Conscious Restaurants
India houses the largest number of malnourished children in the world. Despite this, 40% of food produced in the country is wasted. Food waste is a huge problem in the country. Restaurant industry plays a significant role in it. There are several restaurants taking various measures to reduce waste. However, some of these efforts get overlooked.
Here are four things that we as consumers can do, to support restaurants that are looking forward to embracing sustainability.
- Support the restaurants that compost
With landfills reaching its point of saturation, government of India is encouraging onsite waste management systems. In Maharashtra, the government is encouraging the installation of composting infrastructure for restaurants as well as housing society. We as consumers can choose to visit restaurants that have composting infrastructure in place and support them thus, which would encourage others to follow the suit.
- Opt for restaurants serving seasonal food
Seasonal food is freshly available which reduces the carbon footprint in its production. It also means that the natural ecology is not disturbed in producing it by creating an unnatural environment. There is more chance of it being sustainably produced than that of non-seasonal food.
- Choose restaurants that serve smaller portions
Food is wasted when a person is served more food than their capacity to eat. It is also unfair on the customer as they have to pay price for food which is likely to be wasted. More food is wasted in eateries where there is unlimited food buffet, as customers go with a mindset of eating as much as possible to get heir money’s worth. For this, they serve more food on their plate than they can eat, which ends up increasing the food wastage.
Instead of this, we can choose to eat at restaurants that serve smaller portion sizes for lesser money, which will reduce the waste, as well as satisfy the hunger.
- Look for restaurants that are associated with food donation groups
There are restaurants that are associated with food donation groups, in order to reduce their waste. By choosing to visit such places, we can indirectly participate in feeding the hungry and poor of the country.
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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team
