A Vision For Sustainable Restaurants

Arthur Potts Dawson, founder and owner of multiple green businesses gives us some insight into his sustainable visions for restaurants. Because the restaurant industry is undoubtedly the most wasteful industry in the world, Dawson has opened a handful of restaurants that exclusively employ green practices. For example, the first restaurant he opened is constructed of floors and chairs that are not only recyclable, but that are made from recycled materials. Furthermore, the entire restaurant is powered by sustainable energy- wind power. Perhaps one of his most brilliant ideas, although not part of the physical design of sustainability, is that he created a menu in which the customers are free to choose their portion size. Finally, in the restaurant there is some form of a dehydrating apparatus that breaks down and turns food into inner material that can be stored and composted at a later time.
Dawson’s most recent business enterprise is a project that is extremely necessary in order to foster sustainable practices in the average person’s life. It is called “The People’s Supermarket” and is a non-profit social cooperative project that was created to serve as a food bridge between urban settings and the rural communities in which their food is grown and harvested. Dawson’s goal is to make this the most “sustainable supermarket in the world” by committing to a zero food waste policy. Although Dawson has spent the majority of his work in the realm of sustainable restaurant practices, he understands the importance of launching something like “The People’s Supermarket” because it transfers that restaurant model of sustainable awareness and participation into the very core of our communities. Generally speaking, the working class probably won’t seek out to eat at a green restaurant, but with something like “The People’s Supermarket” everyone, on some level is able to make informed decisions when going to purchase food.
Within his work in the restaurant business, Dawson’s initiative that gives customers the choice in determining their portion sizes is truly revolutionary. In an industry that accumulates so much waste, reshaping the customer’s relationship to food, and giving them a role of responsibility in the restaurant is crucial if we as a society are going to adapt to more sustainable methods concerning food. As Dawson states, it is not about eliminating waste, it’s about minimizing it.”