DENVER—What began with a company-wide seafood policy that ensured Xanterra Parks & Resorts served only sustainable seafood in its 68 restaurants has evolved into an aggressive program that includes a wide variety of new innovations in sustainable cuisine, waste-reduction programs and sustainable renovations and construction of restaurants. Known for its wide-ranging environmental programs, concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates lodges, restaurants, gift shops, tours and activities in national and state parks and resorts.
“Our chefs have created some of the most innovative sustainable offerings we’ve ever seen,” said Chris Lane, vice president of environmental affairs for Xanterra Parks & Resorts. “Sourcing sustainable, locally grown and organic ingredients can be challenging, particularly in remote locations, and our chefs have become quite adept at securing the products they need to create sustainable menu items.”
Each Xanterra property has a mandate to purchase as many sustainable food and beverage items as is economically feasible. Xanterra includes local foods as sustainable in addition to organic, fair trade or products otherwise certified sustainable or environmentally preferable by a third party. The company increased its sustainable cuisine offerings by more than 29 percent in the last year and 196 percent in the last four years to more than $4.1 million of sustainable foods served to guests.
Seven Years Up and Running
It has been seven years since Xanterra first announced a company-wide seafood policy that promoted the use of sustainable seafood in all of its restaurants as well as its catering and employee dining operations. At that time, Xanterra began recommending fish from Marine Stewardship Council-certified sustainable fisheries and those that were harvested using sustainable practices, following guidelines developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch protocol and the Audubon Society’s Living Oceans Seafood Guide. The company also stopped serving four species of seafood—Chilean Sea Bass, Atlantic Swordfish, Blue Fin Tuna and Shark—because the survival of those species is threatened by over-fishing, or they are harvested in ways that damage the environment.
Since then, Xanterra’s sustainable cuisine menu offerings have grown substantially, including the additions of Oregon Country Natural Beef; Kurobuta Pork; Montana Ranch Natural Lamb; Kobe-style Beef; Amaltheia Dairy goat cheese; Timeless Farm legumes; organic Fair Trade-certified Coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters; local dairy; wines produced using sustainable practices; organic soy milk; farm-raised trout, shrimp and abalone; organic legumes; locally grown produce and hormone- and antibiotic-free elk, bison, chicken and venison.
Other initiatives include incorporating sustainable design features into restaurant renovations and new construction as well as developing programs to substantially reduce kitchen waste.
For example, the $3.7 million Annie Creek Restaurant and Gift Shop in Crater Lake National Park, constructed in 2006, was designed to complement the classic national park architecture of Crater Lake Lodge while using a variety of environmentally sustainable construction techniques. The building is powered by 100 percent renewable energy purchases and has fixtures to reduce water consumption by 40 percent. The building has received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Food Scrap Recycling
A leader in sustainable food offerings in Napa Valley, the Silverado Resort was the first resort in the area to adopt a food scrap recycling program resulting in a reduction of generic garbage of almost 50 percent. Executive chef Peter Pahk is an official spokesperson for the Monterey Bay Sustainable Seafood Program and hosts a weekly “Seafood Watch Night” featuring a variety of sustainable seafood dishes.
Other examples of Xanterra’s sustainable food programs include:
• Becoming the first U.S. hospitality company to be granted the “Chain of Custody” certification from the Marine Stewardship Council guaranteeing all of Xanterra’s wild Alaska salmon menu items can be traced to their source, assuring consumers that the salmon is from a sustainable fishery.
• Becoming a corporate member of the Chef’s Collaborative, a national network of more than 1,000 members of the food community who promote sustainable cuisine.
• Implementing a Foodservice Energy Awareness Program that teaches all foodservice employees to participate in energy conservation in a variety of ways.
• Developing a green procurement program to ensure all paper products and chemicals used in the company’s foodservice operations are environmentally sound.
• Developing on-site food waste composting programs in three locations.
For complete information about Xanterra’s environmental programs, visit www.xanterra.com/Environmental-Action-364.html.
