Eat’n Park Hospitality Group Receives Sustainable Award
Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, the parent company of Parkhurst Dining Services, was recently presented the 7th Annual Harvest Award for connecting communities, farmers and food.
Created by Glynwood, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to save farming in the Northeast, the Harvest Award honors organizations and leaders across the country who work to support regional agricultural systems and increase access to fresh, locally-produced food.
“Each year we are inspired to see a continued raising of the bar as to what is regarded as special and exemplary from our Harvest Award nominees,” says Glynwood President Judith LaBelle. “This year we saw a trend toward efforts designed to encourage the financial viability of farmers by helping connect them to new and larger markets, and integrate food related initiatives to health. We are inspired by the great commitment to farming among new-entry farmers as well as long-time farmers who are finding a viable niche in this complex and changing marketplace.”
In 2002, Eat’n Park Hospitality Group made the forward-thinking commitment to purchase at least 30 percent of their food in-season from local farmers, grower’s cooperatives and producers. To accomplish this challenging goal, the group created the FarmSource Initiative to partner the finest local growers and producers with surrounding restaurants and on-site locations.
FarmSource selects and monitors local farms with the best practices and safest food handling programs so their facilities serve only the finest ingredients. Jamie Moore, director of sourcing and sustainability and the primary motivational force behind the program, developed a standard of connecting farmers directly to Eat’n Park’s distribution chain. This reduces the time and effort required of each facility. It’s also a key to success as larger hospitality operations often find that connecting directly with farmers is a considerable obstacle due to existing ordering systems, inventory management, and lack of delivery systems.
Eat’n Park Hospitality Group is still working towards its goal. The group currently purchases 20 percent of its food from local producers, including two specialty produce distributors and some 20 farms. Through its Green Initiatives and Green Standards initiatives, Eat’n Park encourages greater sustainability throughout its operations, including using its purchasing power to source produce from within 125 miles of the facility; purchasing dairy that is produced without the use of rBST, and purchasing meat from regional farms when available. It also partners with Seafood Watch to increase its use of sustainable seafood.
Parkhurst Dining educates guests about their local food program through “EcoSteps”, an in-house marketing program. EcoSteps logo and posters are used at all of dining locations to communicate the actions we are taking to become more environmentally responsive.
The EcoStep’s logo will highlight items that are part of our sustainability program, which emphasizes social and ethical consciousness, environmental awareness and local commitment.
For details on Parkhurst Dining's Positions of Sustainability, please visit http://www..parkhurstdining.com/about_sustainable.html
Parkhurst Dining Services at Bucknell University Awarded “Dining Hall of Distinction”
by University Business Magazine
Parkhurst Dining Services at Bucknell University of Lewisburg, PA, has just been named a “Dining Halls of Distinction” winner by University Business Magazine. Dining Halls of Distinction represent excellence in all aspects of dining operations, including atmosphere, service, and variety of offerings, guest satisfaction, environmental sustainability, and financial stability.
Higher education institutions from across the nation submitted their dining programs for consideration, with a total number of 65 entries received. “Competition was strong, but some clear winners did emerge during the judging process,” said Melissa Ezarik, managing editor of University Business. Entries were evaluated by three editors and the magazine’s art director (also a college parent), as well as by a recent college grad, a graduate student, and Dr. Neal A. Raisman, a higher education consultant and former college president.
“Bucknell’s Bostwick Marketplace, managed by Parkhurst Dining Services, won in the small/media private institution category. We were impressed by the ethnically diverse food offerings and fun stations such as the Mongo Bongo, a Mongolian BBQ. And this was definitely the only entry mentioning a ‘Wall of 16 cereals.’ We also liked the attention paid to student comments, which are posted, along with their responses, in a digital picture frame. In addition, the facility reportedly shows so well on tours that students have said it was not only a deciding factor in enrollment but that it caused them to question the dining programs at other institutions,” said Ezarik.
For a look at all the winners and runner-ups, check out the October issue of University Business, which is available online at www.universitybusiness.com. Also online are the completed entries and a list of must-have characteristics for campus dining programs.
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