Walking the talk - creating food sustainability through restaurant and foodservice gardens.

A focus on sourcing local, sustainable, organic ingredients is almost a given among Portland-area chefs and caterers as well as food manufacturers, distributors and suppliers. An onsite garden can be a powerful differentiator in a fiercely competitive market.

For a restaurant, having organic gardens onsite is an instant visual reminder of your focus on food sustainability, not to mention an environmentally sound way to supply your kitchen with salad greens, herbs and hard-to-find or expensive heirloom vegetables.

Verdura restaurant gardens can be set up in any sunny area, even with limited space: in a courtyard, edging a parking lot, flanking the entrance, or even on a rooftop. The example here is the first phase of The Libertine Deli's new raised bed gardens. Planted with culinary herbs for the restaurant's use, the two frames' steel trellises will soon be covered with lush pea plants, providing a seasonal vegetable as well as a living screen for diners inside.

Other companies in the foodservice industry have equally compelling reasons to consider setting up gardens. You can grow your own herbs and produce on an urban or suburban “farm” for use as an ingredient, for sale, or for donation. Gardens are a popular and cost-effective employee benefit that beautify your property and give your customers a strong message about your commitment to business and food sustainability.

Give us a call at 503.684.3980 or email us to discuss the possibilities and to request an onsite visit. There is no cost for this visit.