Fourteen-member team unveiled.
The National Restaurant Association announced the 14 members of its Conserve Sustainability Advisory Council, an initiative to help restaurants better understand environmental concerns and to become more resource-efficient.
With sustainability becoming more integral to business operations, it is important that restaurateurs know how best to deploy cost-effective and environmentally efficient practices that will pay dividends to their operations and the communities they serve," said Scott DeFife, executive vice president, policy and government affairs, National Restaurant Association. "We think this council will be an important resource in achieving that goal."
DeFife said the association will incorporate the council's advice on best practices into its Conserve Sustainability Education Program (CSEP) to help operators apply the information quickly and easily into their own operations. CSEP features more than 90 industry-tested best practices and 64 educational videos.
The advisory council's members are:
- Linda Dunn, vice president of supply chain and sustainability for contract foodservice company HMSHost
- Jeffrey Foote, director of customer sustainability/global customer development for the Coca-Cola Co.
- Joseph Franz, principal, strategic channel partnership development for Constellation Energy
- Jim Hanna, director of environmental affairs for Starbucks Coffee Co.
- Christian Hardigree, director, professor of the Institute for Culinary Sustainability and Hospitality, Kennesaw State University
- Caitlin Leibert, sustainability coordinator, Chipotle;
- John Mulcahy, vice president of sustainability and compliance for Georgia-Pacific LLC
- Paula Owens, purchasing and sustainability manager for Ted's Montana Grill
- Kristen Rainey, director of sustainability for Sodexo Inc.'s corporate services
- Dave Scholten, commercial segment manager of Gordon Food Service
- Andrew Shakman, founder and CEO of LeanPath Inc.
- Ruth Watts, product marketing manager for BASF
- Wanda Williams, director of alliances and industry relations for Waste Management
- Richard Young, senior engineer/director of education for the Food Service Technology Center
