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Sustainable Food Ask Your Client: “How important is food to your overall travel experience?” Not every traveler is a foodie, but everyone wants to fuel up on tasty meals when they travel. Something your clients might not think about, however, is how their culinary choices can deliver a more authentic, enjoyable travel experience and help the environment and local community at the same time. You can even play a little game of “Would You Rather” with your clients in the spirit of fun information-sharing. For example: •
“Would you rather eat food that’s been freshly harvested, and locally grown, or food that’s been frozen and shipped from hundreds or thousands of miles away?”
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“Would you rather support small, local producers or big corporations?”
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“Would you rather the food you eat reflect the region you’re exploring or eat what you’re already familiar with?”
Then there’s the matter of food waste. For "greener" clients, you can point out that an estimated ⅓ of the food produced worldwide each year—1.3 billion tons—is lost, spoiled, thrown away, or otherwise uneaten. 2 Now, think about all the food that’s wasted in buffets, for example. There are better options for food service (like plated meals, or placing your order ahead of time so precise dishes can be prepared), so why not counsel your clients to choose travel providers that have adopted programs to reduce food waste?
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A Travel Advisor’s Guide: Sustainable Travel
What else can you tell your clients? “Everyone can agree that “fresh is best,” and what better way to experience a region than through local ingredients brimming with flavor? Choosing local food means bettertasting meals for you, jobs for locals, and a reduced carbon footprint overall (since food doesn’t need to be shipped from afar). A win-win-win!” “We all know waste is bad, and when it comes to meal service, buffets are the biggest wasters of all. To cut down on waste, choose a travel provider that favors appropriately-portioned, plated meals and other waste-limiting food services instead of buffets.” “Truly sustainable travel companies should facilitate sustainable seafood options. Seafood is sustainable when 1) the species has healthy population numbers (i.e., it’s not overfished), 2) it was caught responsibly and preferably locally, and 3) the method of catching the seafood didn’t harm other species, or the ocean, in the process.” “In the U.S. alone, the production of food that’s ultimately lost or wasted creates the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as more than 32 million cars.3 So it’s not only good for your taste buds but good for the environment to choose travel providers who strive for zero-waste in their food programs.”
