On October 21, VSAG Marketing Director Jennifer Motruk Loy, gave the Washington Business Journal initial details about the second Founding Farmers location. The Journal’s BizBeat blog published news of VSAG’s plans to open Founding Farmers in Park Potomac, MD next Fall. The Washington, DC location opened September 18, 2008 and VSAG has signed a lease in Park Potomac, MD with the goal of opening the new location around that same time in 2011. VSAG will continue to manage Farmers & Fishers, Founding Farmers in Washington, DC and at this new location. More news to come.
Award presented to Founding Farmers General Manager Paul Chin-Fong by Mayor Adrian Fenty
Founding Farmers, the Greenest Restaurant in Washington, DC, was today named as one of only two restaurants in The District to receive the Mayor’s Environmental Excellence Award in 2010. The annual awards recognize outstanding businesses and organizations for their environmental stewardship, innovative best practices, pollution prevention and resource conservation.
“Founding Farmers was designed and built to minimize its impact on the environment through our mission of sustainable practices like recycling and composting, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local sourcing whenever possible,” said Dan Simons, Principal of VSAG, the high caliber restaurant consulting and management firm for Founding Farmers. “We are honored to be recognized for our dedication to the environment and strive to lead the restaurant industry by example of responsible practices.”
The awards presentation took place at the K St. location of Busboys & Poets on Thursday, August 5. Read the Founding Farmers award-winning case study for more detail on the restaurant’s environmental practices.
Founding Farmers is the first and only restaurant in The District to receive LEED certification to date. Just six months after opening, the restaurant was named a Certified Green Restaurant™ by the Green Restaurant Association for daily operational practices to reduce waste, and in April 2009, the restaurant was awarded LEED Gold Certification status from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), for the commercial interior design of the restaurant.
Founding Farmers focuses on sourcing food and products that have been grown and harvested through sustainable agricultural methods, from the meats, poultry and produce, to the beverages, spirits and wines.
Kudos to CarbonFund for the recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighting the trend of making a positive move to reduce carbon footprints – the yearly amount of carbon dioxide we emit into the environment – for big corporate leaders like Amtrak, Jet Blue, Hyundai and Dell. VSAG is also a CarbonFund.org subscriber, reducing the carbon footprints of restaurant clients like Founding Farmers and Farmers & Fishers, with the purchase of carbon offsets through CarbonFund.org. In 2009 alone, VSAG purchased credits to offset more than 72 tons of carbon dioxide to reduce the environmental impact of the restaurants. It’s just a small part of the VSAG Corporate Social Responsibility that is imparted to all clients.
According to the article, these carbon-offset retailers calculate fossil-fuel consumption and neutralize it with earth-friendly initiatives. There are varying ways these credits are put to use, but examples include investing in reforestation, renewable energy and methane-gas capture-and-destruction efforts. The article is a must read for businesses that want to be more environmentally responsible – from a 2-person operation to a 2,000 person company – everyone can do their part. Read the full article.
…and sharing the news and information with the industry is part of the VSAG mission, from inside the restaurants to beyond our clients’ doors to their guests and customers. Operating in an environmentally friendly way is inherent to successful restaurants Founding Farmers and Farmers & Fishers, both in Washington, DC, so whenever the request comes in for insight and industry knowledge on green restaurants, VSAG Principal Dan Simons is there to share what he knows, recognizing the importance of continuous education for the public – and the hospitality industry - on making smart choices in operations, menu and environments that are important steps in keeping hospitality green.
A recent Restaurants & Institutions magazine feature highlighted the leading efforts of restaurants like Baja Fresh and Founding Farmers, to turn their best practices in operations and environmentally-friendly appeal more green and are recognized for their efforts to differentiate themselves for consumers and guests that are concerned with reducing their own environmental impact.
Last month, Dan served as a panelist at George Washington University with Women in Business to discuss Corporate Social Responsibility – a big topic with big leaders from Dupont and entrepreneurs all focused on maintaining good CSR VSAG is setting new – and realistic standards in the world of hospitality and will continue to share and lead by diverse and informed means.
Can the promise of a free cupcake or some cold hard cash work better than dire predictions of dying polar bears and rising sea levels at getting people to cut their carbon footprint? For diners at Farmers & Fishers and Founding Farmers it can! Both VSAG managed and operated restaurants are in partnership with EarthAid, a Washington, DC based company that offers members points that can be cashed in for rewards like free spa treatments and discounts on everything from yoga classes to energy audits and organic baby clothes.
A recent article in Energy Daily highlights the benefits of saving green – like eating green at your favorite restaurants or redeeming points at any number of earth-minded retailers. Read all about it. Then, join EarthAid and start saving your own green!
Restaurants & Institutions magazine recognizes it, and so do VSAG’s clients – we’re a go-to expert for industry knowledge, experience and insight on how to grow a green restaurant – but more importantly, how to keep one going and use it as a model for the industry. VSAG Principal Dan Simons – our Green Guru – points out the “Good, Better, Best” steps for the magazine, emphasizing the “why” of going green, which invariably has an impact on the bottom line, but can also be used in creative ways to increase awareness among guests and employees.
VSAG Principal Dan Simons recently assisted some students from George Washington University (he’s an alumnus) in their reporting of the importance of green dining choices in the Nation’s capital. Where else would they go to uncover the best practices and insider information, but Founding Farmers, the Greenest Restaurant in DC! Enjoy this bit of video by Madeline Twomey and Juliette Dallas-Feeney, and learn a bit more about Founding Farmers’ leadership in the green dining movement.
From Dan Simons, VSAG Principal, in Response to the December 7, 2009 article by Jane Black that appeared on the front page of The Washington Post:
We’re thankful to Jane Black for bringing such an important topic – sustainable agriculture and what it means to be a green restaurant committed to sustainable business practices – to the front page of The Washington Post. How much more important can this topic get for foodies and restaurateurs? Not much more, but we’re glad that there is focus on a successful business in Washington, DC, that is working to help American family farmers and pushing the envelope on a broad array of topics that go well beyond the superficial, easy topics. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Planet Forward’ sounds like a cool new hang out at a university campus, but it’s actually a co-production of the Public Affairs Project at The George Washington University and Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. Program students Madeline Twomey and Juliette Dallas-Feeney sat with Dan Simons recently to talk about going green in the restaurant business, specifically at Founding Farmers. The women are part of a reporting class that uses advanced multimedia platforms to create stories about sustainability and going green. The two spent some time in the restaurant filming the interiors, the high filtration water system, the recycling center and of course the food! Check out the video, Serving Up a Platter of Green, after the break.
VSAG award-winning LEED Gold restaurant Founding Farmers was recently featured as an in-depth case study by GreenSource magazine, the green building industry’s leading trade journal. The multi-page article in the September issue highlights the green / LEED requirements through the various design elements and the design process, as executed by Washington, DC based CORE architecture + design. Read the rest of this entry »
Kudos to CarbonFund for the recent article in the 
Restaurants & Institutions magazine recognizes it, and so do VSAG’s clients – we’re a go-to expert for industry knowledge, experience and insight on how to grow a green restaurant – but more importantly, how to keep one going and use it as a model for the industry. 
‘Planet Forward’ sounds like a cool new hang out at a university campus, but it’s actually a co-production of the Public Affairs Project at The George Washington University and Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. 
