News

NRA selects sustainability advisory council

September 12, 2013

The National Restaurant Association has named members of the Conserve Sustainability Advisory Council to help restaurateurs become more resource-efficient through its Conserve program.

The advisory council is composed of 14 members of the foodservice and allied industry. As members, they will be tasked with sharing their education, lessons learned and best practices applied at their own businesses.

"We are pleased to announce this group of some of the most influential sustainability leaders in the foodservice industry today," said Scott DeFife, EVP, Policy and Government Affairs, NRA. "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. We think this council will be an important resource in achieving that goal."

The NRA will incorporate the council's advice into its Conserve Sustainability Education Program to help operators incorporate the information into their own operations. CSEP, which currently has nearly 200 members, consists of a checklist that is divided into five categories and also features more than 90 industry-tested best practices and 64 educational videos demonstrating how to enact many of these best practices.

The Conserve Sustainability Advisory Council is led by industry co-chairs John Mulcahy of Georgia-Pacific and Jim Hanna of Starbucks Coffee Co.

Members include:

• Linda Dunn, vice president of supply chain and sustainability for 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; and
• Richard Young, senior engineer/director of education for the Food Service Technology Center.

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