Just How 'Green' Can a Barbecue Restaurant Be? Part III

Is Local Sourcing Possible?

By Scott Joseph

As we discussed in previous issues, Brian Hill of Brian’s Bar-B-Q in Deland is in the process of transforming his restaurant into a more ecologically friendly business. With federal funds dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, funneled through a city program, Hill is making myriad improvements to his barbecue joint’s physical plant, including upgrading the insulation, putting on a new roof, installing a more efficient air-conditioning system, and switching to LED lighting with solar cells. He is also changing the landscaping to a Florida xeriscape layout and is planning to capture rainwater for use in flushing toilets and mopping floors. And hopes to convert the engines of his delivery trucks to run on spent fryer oil.

But he’d like to do more. So he consulted with Green Restaurants Association and learned that one of the main factors the organization analyzes for certification as a “green,” or environmentally friendly, restaurant is its use of local, sustainable food. Food is considered to be local if it is sourced from within a 100-mile radius; food from within a 300-mile radius is called regional. From an environmental standpoint, locally-sourced food matters because it takes less fuel to transport the products from farm to market. Shipping over longer distances adds to pollution and requires more fossil fuels (assuming the jets and semi-tractor trailers aren’t powered by spent frying oil).

In its simplest definition, sustainable means using resources at their rate of recovery. The sustainable part isn’t so difficult; it’s basically a choice of what not to buy or serve.

But trying to buy locally sourced ingredients is another matter. Hill is finding that Kermit the Frog was years ahead of his time when he sang, “It’s not easy being green.”

Sourcing ingredients locally “lends itself to easy things like garden products,” says Hill. But with the exception of fish, which is more readily available in Florida (and more carefully monitored for its sustainability), protein is difficult for Florida restaurants to buy locally. “And that’s the heaviest thing we purchase,” says Hill.

Mainly, it’s a matter of demand overreaching supply. Even the farmers and ranchers of Central Florida agree that they can’t meet the needs of all the restaurants that would like to buy local products. Trisha Strawn of Deland’s Deep Creek Ranch, which produces livestock, says she wouldn’t even be able to meet just Hill’s demand. “He would wipe my herd out,” she says.

Strawn says she provides to 63 restaurants throughout Florida, 15 of which consistently buy the same things every week. That’s a mere fraction of the state’s food-service businesses and even that strains Deep Creek Ranch’s inventory. Also, many of the state’s larger producers of livestock typically raise cattle to weening then ship to stockyards several states away -- closer to the feed -- only to be shipped back to Florida for processing. By the time it reaches the plate, a steak that started out as local could have a rather large carbon footprint.

And that’s not even taking into consideration the feed used to raise the cattle. Most livestock animals are fed grains, such as corn. And although corn is renewable, corn crops are also capable of being depleted, especially when corn is sought after by those seeking to produce biofuels to replace fossil fuels. (Catching on to the vicious cycle?) There is also the age-old argument that the amount of grain needed to raise a steer to maturity could be put to more rational use.

Cost is another factor. A pound of meat from a local, boutique rancher costs more than one raised by a high-volume producer. Even if Hill could find a local source to supply the pork and beef to meet the needs of Brian’s Bar-B-Q, he’d have to raise his prices higher than the average barbecue lover is likely willing to pay.
The problem isn’t unique to animal products. Hill shakes his head at the trajectory of a simple sweet potato fry. Although sweet potatoes are grown in the south, they are processed into fries and packaged in the northeast, then shipped back to the south as a regional delicacy.

So, what’s the answer? Hill says there needs to be a call to action among restaurateurs who, like him, want to do more but are hindered by available resources. He says that perhaps its time for someone to reclaim former groves and farms that were converted to take advantage of the now busted real estate boom.
In the meantime he does what he can, which includes the ongoing renovations to Brian’s Bar-B-Q’s structure. And he cuts his own steaks and grinds his own beef, so at least some of the rendering is considered local. As for sourcing local products for the menu, “I buy my herbs from a local guy,” he says.

Little steps can make a smaller footprint.

Scott Joseph is an internationally recognized restaurant critic, consultant and writer. He publishes Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide at ScottJosephOrlando.com.