2008 Woodie Awards
Ethical eateries fuel body, nurture soul
Local restaurants aim to attract students with green dining and fair-trade coffee
By: Colin Thompson
Issue date: 11/1/06 Section: Features
When Sarah Ward and her friend ordered pizza and breadsticks at Woodstock's Pizza, they didn't know about the green dining policies.
Ward said the practices, such as using unbleached paper and real dishes instead of disposable plates, don't affect her choice of restaurant yet, but they could in the future.
The green dining program at Woodstock's comes from the Green Restaurant Association, an environmental consultation and advocacy agency for businesses.
Laura Ambrose, co-owner of Woodstock's, said the association works to help them find new ways to become more environmentally sensitive and find alternatives from vendors.
"Their goal overall is to help businesses identify ways to improve and be environmentally aware," Ambrose said. "But they balance that with the business side and pragmatic point of view."
It's not easy being green, Ambrose said.
Woodstock's is often ahead of the curve. When the restaurant began using recycled paper towels, they were hard to find and were significantly more expensive. Now that other businesses are using them, the price has gone down.
It may simply be a matter of waiting before customers take notice, though. Ward didn't know about the green certification, but she thought it was a good idea, she said.
Woodstock's is trying to raise awareness through advertising in hopes that the issue will be talked about more and then people would be more likely to take it into account when deciding where to eat.
"We've kind of done it sporadically, always have a sign up, see it on Web site, put it on printed materials, promotional materials in the restaurant and on pizza boxes," Ambrose said. "Routinely, customers don't know. It's something we want to make sure they know."
At the newly opened Augie's Café, at 230 Salem St., the profits are donated to charity and the coffee is fair trade or better. Barista Katie Raley said people come in looking for that.
Both restaurants are banking on people choosing them over the competition based on ethical choices. Both are choosing to embrace policies that impact profitability in favor of an ethical position, said the café's owner, the Rev. Peter Hansen of St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church.
"That's a pretty neat thing when business is not just personal greed, but looks back in the community and says, 'What can we do here?'" Hansen said.
Augie's Café has been more aggressive in the marketing of its ethical policies.
The café was planned when St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church reacquired the building. Hansen had the idea of a coffee shop for a while and decided that it would be a good time to try, he said.
The café tried to open as a nonprofit, but because it is a business with paid employees, most of them students, it was prevented from qualifying, Hansen said.
The shop was funded through donations, a unique benefit of its nonprofit goal. While most shops would need a loan, Hansen doesn't think most banks would have backed this kind of venture, he said.
"The people who gave did so they can see their gift multiplied," Hansen said. "If they gave $1,000 this year, they know that the café will be giving $2,000 to local charities next year."
Ten percent of its earnings before taxes go directly to charity, after which taxes and operating expenses are paid. The church distributes the remaining money to local charities. The café has been open five months and has not shown a profit.
The majority of the profits will go to the poor and organizations that help the poor, Hansen said.
The donations are not the only thing, though. The coffee is imported from a specialty vendor, who focuses on products that are organic, shade-grown and fair trade or better. Fair trade or better is safety added for the growers to ensure they receive a living wage, Hansen said.
"If Vietnam or Brazil floods the market, then a small grower in Guatemala will have to sell at market prices, maybe 50 cents a pound below what it costs him," Hansen said. "If that happens three or four seasons, then he may burn his coffee plants and grow cocaine, and I don't want to be part of that."
Coffee is the No. 2 imported commodity traded internationally, Hansen said. It was a choice based on religion and ethics: that their growers should be treated with dignity. Adding that the cost to Augie's was not an issue.
"The idea of an organic cup of coffee isn't so much that you're getting a more healthful cup of coffee, because maybe that's negligible," Hansen said. "But the fact that the farmers in Guatemala are not being poisoned and their children aren't being stunted by the use of pesticides and herbicides that are used legally there but are illegal here."
Hansen isn't sure yet if the philosophy will bring in students.
Colin Thompson can be reached at
cthompson@theorion.com
Ward said the practices, such as using unbleached paper and real dishes instead of disposable plates, don't affect her choice of restaurant yet, but they could in the future.
The green dining program at Woodstock's comes from the Green Restaurant Association, an environmental consultation and advocacy agency for businesses.
Laura Ambrose, co-owner of Woodstock's, said the association works to help them find new ways to become more environmentally sensitive and find alternatives from vendors.
"Their goal overall is to help businesses identify ways to improve and be environmentally aware," Ambrose said. "But they balance that with the business side and pragmatic point of view."
It's not easy being green, Ambrose said.
Woodstock's is often ahead of the curve. When the restaurant began using recycled paper towels, they were hard to find and were significantly more expensive. Now that other businesses are using them, the price has gone down.
It may simply be a matter of waiting before customers take notice, though. Ward didn't know about the green certification, but she thought it was a good idea, she said.
Woodstock's is trying to raise awareness through advertising in hopes that the issue will be talked about more and then people would be more likely to take it into account when deciding where to eat.
"We've kind of done it sporadically, always have a sign up, see it on Web site, put it on printed materials, promotional materials in the restaurant and on pizza boxes," Ambrose said. "Routinely, customers don't know. It's something we want to make sure they know."
At the newly opened Augie's Café, at 230 Salem St., the profits are donated to charity and the coffee is fair trade or better. Barista Katie Raley said people come in looking for that.
Both restaurants are banking on people choosing them over the competition based on ethical choices. Both are choosing to embrace policies that impact profitability in favor of an ethical position, said the café's owner, the Rev. Peter Hansen of St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church.
"That's a pretty neat thing when business is not just personal greed, but looks back in the community and says, 'What can we do here?'" Hansen said.
Augie's Café has been more aggressive in the marketing of its ethical policies.
The café was planned when St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church reacquired the building. Hansen had the idea of a coffee shop for a while and decided that it would be a good time to try, he said.
The café tried to open as a nonprofit, but because it is a business with paid employees, most of them students, it was prevented from qualifying, Hansen said.
The shop was funded through donations, a unique benefit of its nonprofit goal. While most shops would need a loan, Hansen doesn't think most banks would have backed this kind of venture, he said.
"The people who gave did so they can see their gift multiplied," Hansen said. "If they gave $1,000 this year, they know that the café will be giving $2,000 to local charities next year."
Ten percent of its earnings before taxes go directly to charity, after which taxes and operating expenses are paid. The church distributes the remaining money to local charities. The café has been open five months and has not shown a profit.
The majority of the profits will go to the poor and organizations that help the poor, Hansen said.
The donations are not the only thing, though. The coffee is imported from a specialty vendor, who focuses on products that are organic, shade-grown and fair trade or better. Fair trade or better is safety added for the growers to ensure they receive a living wage, Hansen said.
"If Vietnam or Brazil floods the market, then a small grower in Guatemala will have to sell at market prices, maybe 50 cents a pound below what it costs him," Hansen said. "If that happens three or four seasons, then he may burn his coffee plants and grow cocaine, and I don't want to be part of that."
Coffee is the No. 2 imported commodity traded internationally, Hansen said. It was a choice based on religion and ethics: that their growers should be treated with dignity. Adding that the cost to Augie's was not an issue.
"The idea of an organic cup of coffee isn't so much that you're getting a more healthful cup of coffee, because maybe that's negligible," Hansen said. "But the fact that the farmers in Guatemala are not being poisoned and their children aren't being stunted by the use of pesticides and herbicides that are used legally there but are illegal here."
Hansen isn't sure yet if the philosophy will bring in students.
Colin Thompson can be reached at
cthompson@theorion.com
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