Washington, DC
August 18-21
I wasn’t sure if it was me or if it was D.C. that had become much more aware of their impact on environmental and social issues, but the evidence was everywhere. What was intended to be a relaxing weekend of catching up with old and new friends, and going with flow, ended up begin as an adventure in sustainability. I was barley in town for a couple of hours when my host decided to surprise me with dinner, and a meet-up with some colleagues at “Founding Farmers,” a very hip and happening restaurant located just minutes from the Nations Capital on Pennsylvania Ave. Besides great food and drink, (thanks to RAMMY Award winning mixologist, Jon Arroyo’s imagination), part of the allure of Founding Farmers, at least for me, was the green trifecta the restaurant scored by being the nations first LEED Gold certified restaurant, recognized as a “Certified Green Restaurant” by the Green Restaurant Association.(http://www.dinegreen.com/), and a partner of Carbonfund.org (http://www.carbonfund.org/). On location and environmental efforts alone I have to give Founding Farmers two thumbs up, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and this is a restaurant after-all, so how does the fare, well fare?
Beyond the usual and more obvious LEED certification elements in use at Founding Farmers, of water and energy efficiency, reclaimed wood, post consumer content, concrete bar tops, and low VOC finishes, the restaurant itself is completely focused on sustainable farming practices. The restaurants only uses meat and chicken that is 100% natural, hormone and antibiotic free, the eggs and dairy are from cage-free hens and range free cows, the fish and seafood are line caught or sustainably farmed, and the produce is seasonal and delivered fresh 6 days a week from a variety of family owned farms.
All pastas, breads and deserts are homemade and the menu leans to the south in its roots, featuring such favorites as “fried green tomatoes,” and “chicken and waffles.” There is also a nice assortment of vegetarian and vegan options, so there is something for even the most discriminating tastes in food and drink.
Dinner at Founding Farmers was a bit of stimulus overload for me as I tried to balance visiting with new friends and sneaking in a picture here or there without appearing too distracting or annoying to my dinner guest. You would have to ask them how I did on that front, but one decision was made during dinner...vacation be damned! If Founding Farmers was any hint of what DC had to offer in terms of sustainability, I owed it to myself to learn as much as I could in the next couple of days about the cities grass roots efforts in sustainability. DC is after-all our the nations capital, the hub of change, a “lead by example” city for people from all over the world to visit and perhaps emulate. Okay, the challenge was on, for the next three days, I would let the city be my guide taking note of all things sustainable. Stay tuned...
Founding Farmers: http://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/about/why-we-care/
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