effects. As part of that effort, this past spring, the state’s Air
Resources Board and Department of Food and Agriculture
announced a partnership with the Perennial Farming Ini-
tiative to roll out a new program called Restore California.
Participating restaurants (which can be located anywhere in
the world) add a 1 percent surcharge to each diner’s check,
which will go toward helping California farmers adopt cli-
mate-beneficial agricultural practices. Given that the state
produces 67 percent of the nation’s fruits and nuts (not to
mention a lot of our vegetables, grains and dairy), the impact
could be significant. And compared to overhauling an entire
restaurant to become carbon- neutral, this alternative makes
it easier for more restaurants to support the cause. So far,
dozens of eateries have expressed interest, including Border
Grill and Spago in Los Angeles and Benu and State Bird Pro-
visions in San Francisco.
Restaurants may be inching on board, but the ques-
tion is: will eaters follow suit? Consumer-insights firm
Datassential reports that taste, price and health are the
most important factors in Americans’ food choices. (The
environment lands at 10th on a list of 13 priorities.) This
suggests that patrons are mainly making choices based on
their own needs—what works for my palate, my budget, my
well-being. Contributing to the greater good may be an as-
pirational factor for some, but not a practical one.
Other research, though, paints a less self-centered pic-
ture. A survey from the National Restaurant Association—
the lobbying arm of the U.S. restaurant industry—shows
that about half of consumers select a restaurant based on
its environmentally friendly practices. And we’re only
just starting to see the shift in polls like this, says Myint:
“Carbon- neutral dining is a cultural category that is start-
ing to gain broad traction.” He notes that while offering,
say, carbon-neutral beef hasn’t generated as much con-
sumer buzz as he’d hoped, diners also don’t balk at the
carbon- offset surcharges tacked onto their checks.
Despite the real limitations, consider this powerful
statement: “Now, more than ever, consumers are aware
of how their dining choices affect their communities and
want to support brands that align with their values. Across
the board, we are seeing restaurants take steps to meet this
evolving demand, conserve resources and operate more sus-
tainably.” This quote comes from Laura Abshire, director of
food and sustainability policy at the National Restaurant As-
sociation, that same lobbying wing whose primary interest
is protecting the restaurant industry’s bottom line. When
they concede this point—you know there’s something to it.
SOPHIE EGAN is a San Francisco-based food and health
writer, and author of the book Devoured: How What We Eat
Defines Who We Are.
One way Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco (above) has
gone Zero Footprint is by replacing conventional beef with meat
from retired dairy cows, which has a smaller carbon footprint.