'Green' cuisine not always as ordered - Washington Post

'Green' cuisine not always as ordered - Washington Post

At Founding Farmers restaurant, the cedar-smoked salmon is advertised as "sustainable." On its November menu, the green-certified restaurant boasted of partnerships with six small farms and dairies. "The difference between institutional/corporate farming vs. family farming affects everyone: our health, our land and our lives," the menu read. "You can trust we understand this difference."

But being green isn't always what it seems.

The restaurant serves farmed Atlantic salmon, a no-no according to seafood watch groups that condemn the pollution and other environmental impacts of salmon farming. Its supplier, Cooke Aquaculture, is one of the largest salmon farms in North America. And three of the small farms named on that November menu had not sold to the restaurant in nearly six months.

In an eco-conscious era, "sustainable" and "green" food are buzzwords that sell. Although there are no strict definitions for either, they suggest to manythat food is sourced from smaller, local farms that do not use industrial methods to raise produce and livestock and do not ship it over long distances. The 2010 Zagat survey of U.S. restaurants reports that 61 percent of diners are willing to pay more for green products and menu items, up 5 percent from last year despite the tough economy.

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