AgeSong’s revolutionary green dining program earned itself a Best of
the Best Program to Spotlight recognition in the Resident Dining
Experience category. The program serves environmentally concerned
residents by bringing organic dining to their communities.
Both modern-day environmentalism and the organic food movement have deep roots in Northern California, starting with naturalist John Muir and restaurateur Alice Waters. So it seems only natural that the first Certified Green Restaurant in a senior care setting should hail from the San Francisco Bay area.
AgeSong at Lakeside Park is the only senior care community nationwide that can boast a two-star rating from the Green Restaurant Association (GRA). Situated on parkland next to Lake Merritt, AgeSong serves about 70 seniors with memory loss. “We’re not just doing it for ourselves, but for our clients,” says Dinah Bailes, executive director. “I’m caring for people who’ve been the activists, the engineers, and the politicians” behind the environmental movement.
To become certified, AgeSong was compelled to broaden its thinking of what it means to offer “green dining,” well beyond purchasing locally grown produce and cooking from scratch. The nonprofit GRA requires that restaurants achieve a minimum of 100 points in six out of seven categories, including water efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable furnishings and building materials, sustainable food, energy, disposables, and chemical and pollution reduction.
The certification process took about five months as well as periods of close collaboration with GRA, which provided assistance for measuring energy savings, training, nutritional improvement, and other aspects of green dining. Along the way, AgeSong increased vegan and vegetarian menu items, converted to nontoxic cleaning chemicals, implemented a full-scale recycling and composting program, replaced plastic cutlery with a bio-based alternative made from potato starch, sourced napkins that are made from 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste, and installed energy-efficient kitchen equipment and lighting.
The most expensive part of the process was buying new equipment. Changing to a green pest control provider also cost more. But the initial costs should not deter other providers from following suit, according to Bailes. “In assisted living, you have to make changes every so often to your equipment anyway. Why not make changes with an eye to being green?” she says. “I think they’re going to find their residents and families looking for those things and going to demand it at some point. It’s not only good for our customers but for the whole environment.”
Since the program began, AgeSong has reduced its energy costs by 3 to 5 percent and increased composting and recycling by 20 percent. “The green certification exemplifies AgeSong’s commitment to creating nature-friendly, healing environments,” says Nader Shabahangi, Ph.D., founder and CEO.
