Food waste at the Duluth Grill

Food waste is a major problem in the United States. Did you know that:

• More than 40 percent of the food in the US is wasted (US EPA)
• 37% of food waste is from restaurants, while 47% is from residential use (Food Waste Reduction Alliance)
• Food decomposition accounts for a large portion of methane emissions from landfills (NRDC)
• Growing and transporting wasted food is estimated to produce 3.3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, making it one of the largest contributors to emissions in the world (Ensia)
  
• Food waste may account for more than a quarter of freshwater use (NRDC)
• 1 in 6 Americans are food insecure (NRDC)

When food is unused, the food itself is wasted as well as the resources used to get that food from land to table. It is largely a hidden problem. The enormity of which is staggering. Locally though, the Duluth Grill is tackling the problem of food waste—and at the same time, creating an attractive marketing angle that draws in loyal customers.

Local food accounting

Located in its chilly namesake, the Duluth Grill has made a name for itself in the ‘buy local’ movement. That’s quite a feat, considering their commitment to offering fresh food in an area with a remarkably short growing season. 

An important part of the Duluth Grill’s success is its narrative. Twenty-seven percent of all  purchases are local. Eggs are cage-free, the beef is grass-fed, and the maple syrup is pure. The coffee? Fair-trade and organic. On every table are descriptions of where ingredients are sourced, and how they are raised. The cranberries, Dutch cocoa, buckwheat, and chick peas? Organic. The chicken? It’s antibiotic free, vegetarian fed, and not washed in chlorine. The tomatoes are from Superior, Wis., and the pickles are from Duluth. They even identify the specific individuals who source ingredients such as smoked salmon and honey. 

The restaurant’s ambience also relies on the local market. Wall decorations are from local artists, and even the coffee mugs are made by a Duluth ceramic artist. The storefront features locally-made products, like Duluth’s own specialty recycled-content cutting board line, Epicurean.

Of course, there’s nothing more local than growing the food yourself. In 2009, owner Tom Hanson started a small herb garden on the restaurant’s property. In 2010, he expanded to take up more than 400 square feet of parking lot with trees and vegetable plants. He has recently expanded his orchard and rain garden to cover most of the back parking lot.

Hanson lives on a half-acre just down the street, where he has added a beehive, a greenhouse, and some plants. On the homestead he has 2,000 square feet of growing space, including fruit trees and an aquaponics system. Pacu fish living in the 10,000 gallon pool support the plants around it, and the plants keep the water clean for the fish. The fish eat meat, veggies, and fresh scraps from the kitchen. Looking forward, Hanson is planning to lease a two-acre property close to the restaurant for an even larger urban farm that will supply the restaurant.

Food waste is another man’s treasure

One of the best, and arguably most challenging, parts of the Duluth Grill’s food story is their commitment to taking on food extras. Through local food supplier partnerships, Hanson has learned that local farmers occasionally need an outlet for excess food during harvest that will go to waste if not used quickly.  Recently, working in partnership with the UMD farm program, they received a 500 pound load of peppers. As a result of an emergency prep cook pow-wow in the cooler, they temporarily replaced their onion rings with what became a top-selling menu item: bell pepper rings.  Working with local farms in this way brings supply and demand issues a lot closer to home. Hearing about the amount of food wasted on a global scale is abstract; having to deal with 500 pounds of peppers is personal.

After their first big foray into taking on windfall produce, they have since tackled myriad bumper crops with creative and popular success. Other examples include extra carrots for smoothies and potatoes that soon get smashed, 400 pounds of zucchini that were added to homegrown basil and onions for a mouth-watering slurry soup base, and 200 pounds of field tomatoes – hurriedly packaged and frozen as a result of an overnight blanching party. Even pounds of extra green tomatoes are reborn into the seasonally popular ‘Harvest Spice Jam’.

The grill has managed the art of extras so well, in fact, they’ve just taken the plunge and doubled their freezer/refrigerator capacity. This way, large amounts of extras can be taken on with the ability to store for future use-- an ability that’s particularly useful in a town notorious for its long, cold winters.

The unavoidable small bits of kitchen waste, like onion skins or carrot tops, go straight to the commercial compost site just down the road to be made into soil amendments for someone else’s garden.

Visit the Duluth Grill for some cheeky blog entries that capture their next environmental foray -- likely something about being resourceful with food.

Contact your county recycling coordinator or Angie Bourdaghs at angela.bourdaghs@state.mn.us at the MPCA to get started with food waste prevention.

Doing the right thing can sometimes have a big up-front cost. Coming up with that initial funding to purchase equipment that meets or exceeds environmental regulatory obligations can be a barrier in the shop. Getting an MPCA small business loan can help bridge that gap.

When it involved saving energy and managing less hazardous waste, Dan Tollefson, owner of Schwegman’s Cleaners in Willmar, MN thought it time to make an investment. Tollefson wanted to get away from the controversial issues that follow percholoroethylene (perc) and move to a higher performing product.

Tollefson recently applied for a small business loan to replace an old perc machine with a new hydrocarbon dry-cleaning machine at a cost of $58,800. He determined that the savings will amount to at least $6,000 per year. It will eliminate the need for 78 gallons, or $4500, of perc every year, reducing expenses for hazardous waste fees.  Because the equipment is energy-efficient, energy bills will be reduced.

Many businesses are eligible and can benefit from using a small business loan to change processes or equipment. Many auto body shops are switching from solvent to water-based coating systems. For fleet vehicles that are older than 2007, idling emissions can be reduced with idling technologies. For other companies, financial assistance can help with investigating or cleaning up contaminated sites.

To qualify

A borrower must be an existing small business corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership or association and have less than 50 full-time employees, have an after-tax profit of less than $500,000 and a net worth of less than $1,000,000, and demonstrate an ability to repay the loan.

The types of projects that qualify need to involve pre-approved capital equipment purchases that meet or exceed environmental rules and regulations, or pre-approved site investigations and cleanups. Projects begun or completed prior to MPCA approval are not eligible. Loans are awarded on a competitive basis year-round and are based on available funds. It typically takes a minimum of 45 days to complete the process once a loan is awarded.

The general terms:

• loan amount not less than $1,000 or more than $50,000,
• an interest rate of four percent or one-half the prime rate, whichever is greater at the time of award,
• repayment term of not more than seven years for environmental improvements, collateral is required,
• and borrowers must complete an evaluation of the project's realized environmental and economic benefits.

Go here for more information or contact Hien Le at the MPCA at hien.le@state.mn.us or 651-757-2519.

In 2014, the Minnesota Legislature expanded recycling requirements to commercial buildings per Minn. Stat. 115A.151. Effective January 1, 2016, you must have recycling collection if you are a commercial building owner, and your commercial building:

• Is located in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties
• Contains one or more businesses classified in sectors 42 to 81 under the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS codes). Manufacturers not included.
  
• Examples include, but are not limited to - dry cleaners, hospitals, non-hospital health care facilities, gas stations, and auto body repair and maintenance.
• Contracts for four cubic yards or more per week of trash collection

What must be collected?

A minimum of three recyclable materials must be collected. Possible material types include, but are not limited to paper, glass, plastic, metal, organics, or single-sort, with 3+ materials included.

Getting started

Every business will produce different types and volumes of recyclables. Know your waste stream: What types of waste is generated? What types of recyclables do you throw away the most? What type and placement of containers would best suit your staff and customers? Considering best management practices will help divert the most material to recycling and provide the biggest potential to save on solid waste costs. 

By increasing your recycling, you may be able to reduce the container size or frequency of your trash collection, saving on both state and local solid waste taxes that are only applied to trash, not recyclables. Take this opportunity to contact your hauler to discuss “right-sizing” your service and see what you might save on your monthly bill.

Looking for more resources? In the Twin Cities, check out rethinkrecycling.com/businesses. For help on increasing recycling in Greater Minnesota, check out recyclemoremn.org.

The EPA is likely to tighten air quality standards for ozone (smog) by the end of the year, which may result in new regulations and costs for Minnesota businesses over the next five years. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions directly result in the formation of ground-level ozone, or smog. VOCs are emitted from many industrial processes used in businesses all around us. You may recognize them as the solvent-like fumes coming from all kinds of materials like coatings, inks, solvents, adhesives, or gasoline. While many businesses have small VOC emissions by themselves, together these emissions add up to a significant impact. Any improvements made now may reduce the need for new regulations later. The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) has VOC programs to help degreasing, fiber-reinforced plastics, and industrial painting and auto body repair voluntarily and cost-effectively reduce emissions.

Industrial and vehicle maintenance degreasing

• Pilot projects provide FREE product samples to help identify effective lower VOC degreasing products, and technical support to make sure the new products meet all process needs.
• Complete an anonymous degreasing survey to better understand degreasing solvent use and develop future assistance
• Industrial maintenance - http//z.umn.edu/degreasingsurvey.
• Vehicle maintenance - http://z.umn.edu/autodegreasingsurvey

Fiber-reinforced plastics

• The E3 in FRP Project will provide participating Fiber Reinforced Plastics companies with FREE pollution prevention, energy efficiency, and Lean assessments, training, technical assistance on the latest FRP techniques, equipment, and materials.
• Best Practices in Spray Molding training event is planned for fall/winter 2014.

Industrial painting and auto body repair

• VirtualPaint training can improve transfer efficiency and paint utilization. Computerized simulation provides real-time feedback for target film thickness percentage, paint sprayed, paint wasted, cost, gun distance to target, and gun speed.
• St Cloud and Metro area training sessions - late 2014
• Twin Cities Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI) Paint Expo - March 2015
• Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP-MN) convention - April 2015
• Water-borne paint systems demonstration planned for late 2014 to help auto body shops evaluate making a switch from traditional solvent based paint systems.

For more information, or if you are interested in participating in a pilot project contact:

• Jane Paulson - Industrial maintenance degreasing, fiber reinforced plastics, or industrial painting janep2@umn.edu or 612-624-1826
• Mick Jost - Vehicle maintenance degreasing, painting, and repair  jostx003@umn.edu or 612-624-4694