DENVER, June 8, 2004 - It has been three years
since national park and resort concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts
first announced an aggressive company-wide seafood policy that promoted
the use of sustainable seafood in all of its 64 restaurants as well as
its catering and employee dining operations. Since then, the company's
sustainable cuisine menu offerings have grown substantially, including
the additions of Oregon Country Natural Beef; Kurobuta Pork; Kobe-style
Beef; wines produced using sustainable practices; organic soy milk; farm-raised
trout and abalone; locally grown produce and hormone- and antibiotic-free
elk, bison, chicken and venison.
The company made the decision in 2001 to introduce a policy to guide
positive seafood choices. At that time, Xanterra began recommending fish
from Marine Stewardship Council-certified sustainable fisheries and those
that were harvested using sustainable practices, following guidelines developed
by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch protocol and the Audubon Society's
Living Oceans Seafood Guide. The company also stopped serving four species
of seafood - Chilean Sea Bass, Atlantic Swordfish, Blue Fin Tuna and Shark
- because the survival of those species is threatened by over-fishing,
or they are harvested in ways that damage the environment.
The initiative was among the first in a series of sustainable cuisine
programs at Xanterra foodservice operations. Today, the company's offerings
cover a broad spectrum of food and beverage including seafood, meat, poultry,
wine, coffee, produce and soy milk.
"Our employees throughout the country are tuned in to local sustainable
cuisine opportunities, so we are often finding new and innovative ways
to use food that is harvested using practices that protect the environment,"
said Tim Stein, director of food & beverage for Xanterra Parks &
Resorts. "From the beginning, our goal has been to educate our guests and
employees around the country about the importance of making environmentally
responsible cuisine decisions. Xanterra has greatly benefited from the
steamroller effect of increased awareness and the resulting ideas for additional
initiatives."
Xanterra's sustainable cuisine programs now include:
-
Serving wild Alaska salmon instead of farmed salmon in several national
park and resort restaurants. The company's chefs have developed distinctive
recipes for entrees such as Wild Alaska Salmon En Papillote at the Old
Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park and Poached Salmon with Penne
at the Bryce Canyon Lodge in Bryce Canyon National Park. The company also
distributes salmon recipe booklets developed by the Alaska Seafood Marketing
Institute.
-
Becoming the first U.S. hospitality company to be granted the "Chain of
Custody" certification from the Marine Stewardship Council. This important
certification guarantees all of Xanterra's wild Alaska salmon menu items
can be traced to their source, assuring consumers that the salmon is from
a fishery that has met the Marine Stewardship Council's stringent environmental
standards.
-
Becoming a corporate member of the Chef's Collaborative, a national network
of more than 1,000 members of the food community who promote sustainable
cuisine. The Chef's Collaborative educates chefs and consumers about local
sustainable products and practices and also works to improve the quality
and taste of sustainable food products. Several restaurants and Xanterra
employees are also members of the Chef's Collaborative.
-
In partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., offering organic
Fair Trade Certified coffee in many of its restaurants. The growth and
harvest of organic coffee beans are completed in a way that supports wildlife
and migratory bird habitat, and the beans are grown without the use of
harsh pesticides using a "shade-growing" method that preserves the rainforest
and protects bird habitats. The Fair Trade certificate means the coffee
is purchased from local farmers at a fair price.
-
Offering Oregon Country Natural Beef at Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and
other park foodservice facilities. Oregon Country Beef is a cooperative
of family-run ranches. Each participating ranch commits to raising cattle
using the most sustainable practices possible including eliminating growth
hormones and feed additives and maximizing the use of natural resources
like water and vegetation.
-
Serving Conservation Beef in Yellowstone restaurants. The beef is produced
from cows raised on natural grasses on the Western range. No growth hormones
or antibiotics are given to the animals. Meat is dry-aged to enhance flavor,
and the program supports wildlife habitat conservation in partnership with
the Nature Conservancy.
-
Featuring Snake River Farms Kurobuta Pork and Kobe-style Beef at the Silverado
Resort. Both products are produced using all-natural production methods.
American Kurobuta Pork is raised on small family farms in the Midwest using
no extenders, sodium or added water. Kobe Beef cattle are raised in a natural
environment and fed a varied diet of barley, golden wheat, straw, alfalfa
hay and Idaho potatoes. Their feeding program runs three times longer than
traditional beef and is hormone free.
-
Offering Niman Ranch pork in Yellowstone restaurants. The pork is produced
from animals raised on sustainable lands and fed hormone-free, natural
feeds. Niman Ranch adheres to a strict code of husbandry principals.
-
Offering organic produce, grass-fed beef and Ohio-raised chicken at Maumee
Bay State Park Resort in Oregon, Ohio.
-
Serving wine produced from organically grown grapes or by using other sustainable
agricultural practices at the Silverado Resort, Grand Canyon Lodge on the
North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and several other Xanterra restaurants.
A full one-third of the wine list at the Grand Canyon Lodge is comprised
of wines produced using sustainable agriculture or organic farming techniques.
Silverado Resort's wine list includes offerings from members of the Napa
Sustainable Wine Growers, a group of winemakers in Napa Valley who adhere
to a variety of strict sustainable practices.
-
Offering farm-raised trout, bison, elk and venison in several restaurants.
-
Serving abalone at the Silverado Resort produced by Abalone Farm - a California
facility that uses state-of-the-art sustainable practices. Due to
the rapid decline in the coastal wild abalone population, commercial abalone
diving is illegal in U.S. waters. Abalone Farm operates an aquaculture
facility that grows abalone without harming the earth's natural resources.
-
Offering Silk brand organic soy milk in Yellowstone restaurants.
-
Implementing a Foodservice Energy Awareness Program that teaches all foodservice
employees to participate in energy conservation in a variety of ways.
-
Developing a Green Procurement program to ensure all paper products and
chemicals used in the company's foodservice operations are environmentally
sound. As part of the company's Ecologix environmental management system,
all foodservice operations also participate fully in recycling and waste
reduction programs.
Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates lodges, restaurants and other concessions
at national parks and state parks and resorts. Xanterra is the country's
largest national park concessioner.
|