organic farms & sustainability

FOOD

Henrique Martins

Communications Consultant

Lisbon Sustainability Agency

Thursday, 26th of September 2019, at 15:42

According to the II Great Sustainability Survey, promoted by Missão Continente, with scientific coordination from ICS-ULisboa, there has been a shift in the consumption habits and food preferences of the Portuguese population, when compared to the results of the same study promoted in 2016. While this is a personal choice thinking about the environment, it is the restaurant industry's duty to reflect on the definition of the type of food that they serve and its origin, the destination of the waste generated, the materials used in the kitchen and in the dining room, and all internal practices, as they will have an impact on the environmental sustainability of this business.

In addition, using less environmental resources and compensating the Planet for the use of those that are indispensable should be the main motto, being linked to the restaurant's strategy. Each day, there is more room for improvement, involving combating food waste and the use of plastics, measuring the carbon footprint, prefering suppliers that care about the environment, to name a few.

In other countries, there are several examples of restaurants that have made sustainability one of their priorities by adopting rules that reduce their environmental footprint and by contributing to social causes, resulting in an evolution process  that should involve the entire team.

At LSA, we assess the internal practices of a restaurant, as well as its supply chain, in order to implement measures that take the Planet and the community into account. This can also be a communication opportunity, being extremely important to build strategic relationships with stakeholders that will recognize the improvements and share them with their audiences.