It's National Organic Month. How to Introduce More Organic Food in Restaurants?
With so many food trends, we keep hearing about the ones with more health benefits. And organic foods are one of the most we hear about.
Furthermore, organically grown or produced foods are considered to be more beneficial than non-organic. Therefore, the awareness surrounding organic foods has birthed National Organic Month. The start of keeping a separate month for food has significant implications for the food community, including restaurants.
So, what does it mean for restaurants and consumers, and what is exactly national organic month? Let's explore more.
National Organic Month
Before we dive deeper into the mentioned month, let's get a quick grasp on what are exactly organic foods. These foods refer to the foods grown or produced in a particular way, excluding the use of genetically modified technologies, antibiotic or hormonal application on farm animals, and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
The national organic month consists of a thirty-day celebration in September and acknowledges the great health impacts of organic and fresh food in life. Also, this sheds light on how organic farming, which currently accounts for only 1% of global farming practices, positively affects the farmer community. So, the national organic month can be taken as an encouraging step toward our progression into a healthy society.
Moreover, this month consists of campaigns to raise awareness of organic foods' benefits. Thus national organic month paves the path of deeply integrating quality fresh food into our lives.
What Does This Month Mean For Restaurants?
September seems like a perfect month to acknowledge organic fresh food. Many community gardens and food-based organizations host special events during the mentioned month. These events give suitable opportunities to learn about organic foods and how these can be included in daily life and farming practices.
Restaurants can play a pivotal role during the national organic month. Moreover, their place in the minds of food lovers gives them leverage to promote the goodness of organic foods in a community and also works as a marketing tool.
In present times, restaurants are focusing on including organic and fresh food on their menus. Such actions bring more profit and greater acknowledgment among consumers, including millennials, who focus on becoming conscious eaters.
Introducing More Organic Food in Restaurants: A Challenge
With customers leaning more towards fresh food, restaurants have more leverage to emerge as sustainable choices. But, introducing organic fresh food implies a hike in the prices of food offered in the restaurants, which may make restaurateurs lose their budget-conscious customers.
So, amid the growing hype toward organically grown food, the real question remains how to introduce more organic food in restaurants authentically and sustainably.
Restaurants should avoid making these products more expensive and unaffordable in the name of promoting healthy trends. Consuming natural, fresh food without additives and pesticides should be considered a natural practice, not a luxury. Restaurants should provide high-quality and healthy food on a daily basis and make this something trivial in the food industry. We can take easy actions to promote more organic, natural, and healthy foods.
What Initiatives Can Restaurants Take During National Organic Month?
Organic food has emerged as a buzzword among foodies. Consequently, the presence of organic food on menus is one of the factors in selecting a restaurant.
Moreover, 70% of consumers prefer restaurants offering organic fresh food. This is because they consider these places a healthy and sustainable choice.
Restaurants can spread the goodness of organically produced foods throughout the year. But, the month of September provides an encouraging time to promote organic food in the community. They can include organic ingredients in their food items and organize food festivals to attract food fanatics.
Ways to Introduce Organic Food in Restaurants:
Introducing organic food in a restaurant can be implemented with some easy steps mentioned below:
- Make more advertisements about this food on their social media, showing that it can be easy to access and affordable.
- Include more organic and local ingredients on the menu.
- The focus can be more on vegetables than meat when aiming to include organic fresh food.
- Restaurants can focus on producing on-site ingredients. Like, if they have some items that require jam, they can make the jam from purchased organic fruits instead of buying readymade organic jam. These actions ensure less inclusion of preservatives or additives in foods and guarantee more authenticity. Also, the approach of having in-house ingredients cuts down the shipping costs.
- Restaurants can join networks that promote eco-friendly or organic practices. Joining these networks can give restaurateurs access to tools and resources that make providing healthy food easier and more accessible.
- A good sustainable way to include organic is to have a garden for growing organic vegetables in the restaurant space. Animal farming can be a hassle, but growing organic veggies can be possible. The garden does not have to be big or lavish. But, it offers a good way of going organic and green. Also, it gives a chance of composting kitchen waste generated in the restaurant.
- It's wise to research and check labels before buying organic ingredients.
- Restaurants must highlight their use of organic ingredients on websites and advertisements, provided they are authentic in their organic approach. They can offer special dishes with organic ingredients (like the organic burger of McDonald's) to attract customers preferring the inclusion of healthy organic food.
- Also, most importantly, cut back on costly aspects like ornamental packaging when introducing organic food. This measure will help balance the extra costs of incorporating organic items in restaurant foods.
Final Thoughts
Organic food can be regarded as a better choice compared to conventional food. Organically grown fresh food keeps us healthy and can ease our way into a sustainable future. Their incredible health benefits and growing preference for organic food can serve an insightful implication for restaurants.
There are many ways to introduce organic food in restaurants. The restaurants can have in-house productions and an organic vegetable garden. Besides these steps, they need to check food certifications and labels to steer clear of shady arrangements or prevent themselves from falling into fake organic practices.
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