Taste How Restaurants Are Transforming Food Waste, From Coast to Coast

Restaurants are evolving from farm-to-table and seasonal to exceptionally sustainable thanks to waste reduction. Chefs and operators agree on two keys to joining this movement: starting small and adapting to change.

Changing sourcing, habits, and menus are the inevitabilities that come with any commitment to wasting less, and the benefits are cultivating creativity in the kitchen, spending smarter, and minimizing dining’s impact on the planet. Here’s where the tradeoff is so worth it.

In Colorado, Denver and Boulder restaurants are fermenting and preserving food scraps and out-of-season crops to craft all kinds of condiments, from ash salt to syrups and misos. A catering company is turning its leftovers into weekend brunch. An all-day hotel restaurant is eliminating plate scrap waste with a biodigestor. And a caterer with a restaurant and market holds its producers accountable for minimal packaging.

The Grand Canyon is another hub of waste reduction ingenuity with four Green Certified Restaurants and a railway that runs on leftover vegetable oil from dishes like french fries. Food scraps feed the national park’s 150 mules that carry guests and supplies on the rugged terrain, and even the mule manure is composted.

In California, multi-award-winning SingleThread is passing its wisdom onto diners to spread the sustainable practices that have made the farm, restaurant, and inn so successful. In Portland, Oregon, and beyond, Salt & Straw’s serving ice cream in smaller compostable cups to prevent 14 tons of paper from landfills annually. And a Chicago restaurant group is eliminating single-use plastics, implementing reusable tote bags for carry-out and delivery orders.

On the East Coast, a Best New Chef’s restaurant in Washington, D.C., has a ceramicist turning empty wine bottles into dishware. Restaurants in New England are turning to seaweed and invasive green crabs for more sustainable seafood. Upstate New York bakeries are turning leftover bagels into bagel chips, croutons, and beer. And in Florida, you can cook your own catch and sip from pasta straws.

Two of these restaurants embed wildflowers into menus. All of these establishments compost, and many grow their own ingredients. Each one has inspiration to waste less, wherever you’re dining next.