TROUBLED WATERS
The importance of water
as a natural resource can’t be understated. Wars and lesser skirmishes have
been fought over water, and it’s been at the heart of numerous public utility
projects and significant legislation at all levels of government.
In addition to being the
world’s most popular beverage, clean water is crucial to restaurants, whether
it’s used in the front or back of the house or even outside the facility.
The importance of H2O
became particularly clear this year due to several major developments in
different parts of the United States. As the ongoing drought in the West and
Southwest takes its toll, land and crops—which are also impacted by the quality
of water—are starving to death, leading to higher food prices and, ultimately,
less food. Between the lack of rain and other disasters, such as the chemical
spill that shut down the capital of West Virginia in January 2013, restaurants
and municipalities are looking to conserve, filter, and even reuse water.
“All utilities are very
important for us, but none is as essential as good water,” says Christian
Fischer, executive chef and vice president of culinary innovations for
Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services, based in Rye, New York. He says
water is equitable to treasure at many of the 260 academic institutions for
which the company manages foodservice operations. “Some of them refer to water
as liquid gold.”
Extreme drought
conditions hit central and northern California and western Nevada, and continue
to impact many regions already suffering, like northern Texas and Oklahoma.
This has impacted crop
production and cattle ranching, pushing food prices higher. The West has been
in drought conditions for the past several years, but “the intensity is
particularly great this year in California and the Southwest into Texas and
Oklahoma,” says Liz Purchia, spokeswoman for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
Restaurants should
consider water conservation all the time, not just when there are crises, says
Michael Oshman, founder and chief executive of the Green Restaurant
Association, adding that the practice also saves money.
Energy Star dishwashers
and ice machines conserve water in the back of the house, as do low-flow,
pre-rinse spray valves and automatic on-and-off faucets. In the bathrooms,
aerators on faucets, low-water toilets, and no-water urinals can save water.
At Atlanta’s Lure seafood
restaurant, owner Fifth Group Restaurants constructed a system that not only
harvests rainwater from the eatery’s roof and patio, but also melts water from
icemakers and water condensation from air conditioning. The system stores up to
3,000 gallons of filtered water that is used for the bathrooms and to irrigate
plants around the building.
“We’ve captured about
100,000 gallons each of the past two years, and haven’t had to use municipal
water for flushing toilets or for irrigation,” says Steve Simon, one of Fifth
Group’s partners. The main reason for making the expensive investment in the
water recapturing system was environmental, but it has saved the restaurant
thousands of dollars by not purchasing Atlanta municipal water, which Simon
calls one of the most expensive water options in the nation.
When it comes to cooking,
water’s properties also influence the taste of the food, and that is why a
number of chefs work only with filtered water.
“It isn’t crucial when
you’re braising a piece of meat, but it’s very important in baking and in
delicate soups and sauces,” says Fischer, Chartwells’ executive chef. “If you
have water with a strong chlorine taste, for instance, it will affect the final
product. Other chemicals and metals can influence the flavor, too.”
A study in 2013 by The
NPD Group found that 37 percent of restaurant customers choose water or no
beverage with their meals. And bottled water is the choice of many guests, with
38 percent of restaurants offering it, according to Datassential MenuTrends.
But aqua is often taken
for granted by customers, and the cost of water is rising. According to a study
by Circle of Blue, a group of scientists and journalists concerned with natural
resources, the average price of municipal water is up 6.2 percent in big
American cities this year, and has jumped 33 percent since 2010.
Water grows the country’s
crops, keeps the farms in the farm-to-table movement solvent, filters America’s
beloved soft drinks, is critical for food prep, and cleans restaurants, keeping
them functional. How restaurants and society treat water now will impact the
world’s most precious resource for generations to come.
(Taken from RSR Ideas and Insights for Full-Service Restaurants | March 30, 2015)
