“Sustainability is one of the most difficult words to define. To me, it has to do with the opportunity to work with and support everyone around you. Our gardener relies on our cheesemaker; our chef relies on our gardener; the dairy compost enhances our garden. It’s a full circle and contributes to the quality of experience we can share with guests in our dining room. We grow the majority of what we use but we also have incredible neighbors, farmers I want to support who do some things better than we do.”
Sam Beall, proprietor, Blackberry Farm

“When you talk about operating sustainably, you have to recognize that there’s never an endpoint. You are committing to a life practice, a way of doing things. You are continually investing in what’s coming next and thinking about how to create a system that’s going to be supporting us years and years into the future. We imagine ourselves as a 100+-year company – one that actually supplies sustainable food for 100 years beyond any of our lives.”
Jeff Harvey, president/ceo, Burgerville

“You can’t have sustainability without supporting local people – directly sourcing from people within your region. Aside from efficiencies of scale, when you buy locally you are recirculating your dollars within your community, and that’s economically sustainable.”
Michel Nischan, president/ceo Wholesome Wave Foundation and owner/founder, Dressing Room

“We have an urban rooftop garden at XOCO to show people that you can do it. But for us sustainability has to be part of the whole big picture. We focus on it in every aspect of the operation, so it has to affect the way we train and maintain our staff and how we build out the place. Sustainability affects every aspect of the whole business, not just food.”
Rick Bayless, chef/owner Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, XOCO