Durham College’s Centre for Food becomes 2 Star Certified Green Restaurant® Posted on February 24, 2014 at 9:38 am. First teaching and learning restaurant in Canada to meet Green Restaurant Association’s rigorous environmental standards Whitby, Ont. – Durham College announced today that its new Centre for Food (CFF), including Bistro ’67, the college’s full-service, teaching and learning restaurant, has been certified as a 2 Star Certified Green Restaurant® by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), a non-profit organization which helps restaurants become more environmentally sustainable. With the CFF receiving 121.33 GreenPoints™ on the GRA’s rigorous certification scale and having implemented 50 environmental steps, Durham College has gone 21.33 per cent above and beyond the minimum requirements necessary for certification. “Since Day 1 Durham College has been dedicated to ensuring sustainability guides our decisions and best practices at the CFF,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “We’re proud to receive this certification from the GRA, which is a reflection of our commitment to build a centre focused on being green and demonstrating sustainable practices, and be recognized for our efforts to be a leader in environmental sustainability for the restaurant industry.” Some highlights of the CFF’s green accomplishments include its dedication to reducing its environmental footprint by recycling; using a fully automated building controls management system and occupancy sensors in a variety of areas; offering touchless sensor faucets; recycling and composting kitchen waste; and using safer hand soaps among others. In addition careful attention is paid to the inputs and outputs of the facility and the restaurant in an effort to be good stewards of our environment. Focused on the field-to-fork concept, which is based on the harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, sale and consumption of food – in particular the production of local food for local consumers, the CFF opened to students in September 2013. Accommodating approximately 900 additional students studying in culinary, hospitality, tourism, agricultural and horticultural programs, the CFF also houses state-of-the-art labs including food and beverage pairing labs; a hotel living lab; classrooms and meeting spaces; and a demonstration lecture theatre. The CFF brings these programs and building elements together with the college’s food science programs, completing the field to fork cycle. Bistro ’67 offers dishes prepared and served by students in the culinary and hospitality programs, featuring produce and delicious flavours from the region. It offers a unique field-to-fork culinary environment to diners including seating up to 70 guests and the opportunity to choose from a variety of seasonal dishes designed to satisfy any palate such as delicious soups and salads, intriguing sandwiches and entrees and decadent desserts. In addition to featuring the latest in culinary technology, the restaurant also offers a boardroom (available for public rental) surrounded by glass walls overlooking the kitchen and a living lab with exposure to all restaurant-related jobs. For more information on the college’s green certification ranking, please visit the GRA’s website. For more information on the CFF please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/CFF. -30- About Durham College At Durham College, the student experience comes first. In September 2013, the college welcomed more than 30,000 students to campus including more than 10,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students as well as part-time and continuing education students and online learners. The college offers a wide range of market-driven programs in a number of different disciplines including culinary, hospitality, tourism, horticulture, business, information technology, media, art, design, general arts, science, skilled trades, justice, emergency services, health and engineering technology, enabling students to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. A three-phase expansion of the college’s Whitby campus was recently completed when the 36,000-square-foot Centre for Food opened on the northwest corner of campus. Accommodating approximately 900 additional students studying in culinary, hospitality, tourism, agricultural and horticultural programs, it also features Bistro ’67, a new, 70-seat, full-service, green-certified teaching and learning restaurant and Pantry, a new retail store featuring fresh-baked items, meals-to-go, preserved foods and ready-to-cook meals created by students in the college’s culinary programs. About the Green Restaurant Association The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) is a national non-profit organization that provides the only official Certified Green Restaurants® mark in the country. For 22 years, the GRA has pioneered the Green Restaurant® movement and has been the leading voice within the industry encouraging restaurants to listen to consumer demand and green their operations using transparent, science-based certification standards. With their turnkey certification system, the GRA has made it easy for thousands of restaurants to become more environmentally sustainable in a profitable manner. The GRA is endorsed by scores of national environmental organizations such as NRDC, and esteemed trade organizations including the New York State Restaurant Association, Orange County Restaurant Association, and America Public Garden Association. The GRA is also an Energy Star partner. In 2010, CitySearch announced the GRA as their official Green Restaurant® listing partner. The GRA has been featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News, NPR, and in The New York Times, and The Washington Post. For more information visit www.dinegreen.com. For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000. Media contact: Cosette Kazarian Communications and Marketing 905.721.2000 ext. 3611 cosette.kazarian@durhamcollege.ca SHARE:
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