Have you ever heard of the Michelin Green Star? Well, thanks to their sustainable practices and excellence in creative reuse of food, one Long Beach restaurant, Heritage, has earned two honors back to back, as reported by LAist.
Run by sibling duo Lauren and Phil Pretty, the restaurant focuses on a zero-waste approach to food. Chefs find several ways to reuse the same item — often in the same dish. They grow most of their food on their local farm, making them part of the food production from beginning to end.
Why is this family-run eatery going through such efforts? Because despite concerns about grocery prices, as much as 30 to 40% of the food supply goes to waste, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, this loss hits heavy at the commercial level and in restaurants, which are responsible for about 11.4 million tons of wasted food annually, according to the Food Waste Action Guide from ReFed. Every piece of food wasted is a missed chance to feed someone in need while adding to overcrowded landfills.
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Grocery stores 🛒 When diners come to eat at the quaint but upscale restaurant set in a craftsman-style home, they can feel good knowing they're eating the freshest food that has been handled from start to finish by the restaurant. Those eco-conscious diners should also know the establishment's zero-waste sustainability efforts go down to how it uses packaging.
As Phil Pretty told LAist, "We're taking one ingredient and manipulating it."
Thanks to their Heritage Farm close by, diners can also get a taste of creative seasonal items, such as desserts made from figs or passionfruit. For example, the budding fig tree leaves can go into the first batch of ice cream, and the team will add figs once they can harvest them.
In addition to their local farm, the Prettys try to keep everything as local as possible to reduce their carbon footprint. Keeping the business in the family or using other local vendors, like farmers' markets, enables them to not rely on long-distance deliveries, packaging, and emissions from extensive trucking hauls.
The dedication and inspiring techniques that Heritage has used to earn its green certification can inspire others about their relationship with food at home or in a business. There are other no-waste initiatives around the country, such as Trader Joe's locations giving expired produce to local farms for compost and organic animal feed.
By keeping food out of landfills and trash cans, the restaurant helps create a safer environment less likely to attract hungry and destructive pests like rodents. Such a change won't happen overnight, as Lauren Pretty told LAist: "It's about taking the time to make small changes that don't cost anything to make your business more environmentally friendly."
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