Sustainable Checklist

The Sustainable Chef

Sustainability Checklist

Value: 40% of Final Grade During the course you will be exposed to a number of sustainable and non-sustainable practices through examining the 4 Ps and the 3 pillars of Sustainability. You will also be shown how some companies greenwash their image. The purpose of creating this checklist is to give you a set of standards that you can use to evaluate companies or products to determine whether they meet your sustainable criteria. You will then be able to use this information to make recommendations. From the course perspective this is the largest assignment and you will be graded on applying as many of the topics that we have covered as you can.

Assignment: You are opening a food business (restaurant, catering company, food truck- you decide, be creative). In keeping with your vision for being sustainable, create a sustainable checklist that you will use to evaluate products and suppliers. Make sure your checklist is heavily weighted toward food. You can make a list or a pie chart or a diagram, design a slideshow, a poster, a video, a podcast, a webpage or a blog post. Be creative.- the ultimate goal of this checklist is for you to demonstrate you are meeting the course outcomes and are implementing the skills taught in class.

1. Introduction: Define sustainability in your own words. Introduce your checklist and

describe how and why you have designed it. Create a mission statement for your business that reflects your sustainability commitment. (10%)

2. Checklist: Create a checklist of your criteria for determining whether or not a product, supplier is sustainable. You can create multiple sections here for food, drink, business design, education. Make sure at least 20 of the 40 are food-focused. Are there any criteria in your checklist that are absolute musts, or are deal breakers? (E.G. unsustainable seafood, suppliers that provide non-sustainable products) (40%)

3. Justification: For each requirement on your checklist give a reason/rationale for including that item. Pretend that the reader has no idea about ethical or sustainability issues with food. Connect your justification to the topics covered in class. Include relevant research to the item. (30%)

4. Evaluation (20%): Choose 2 similar Food products and implement your checklist (or the part of your checklist that is specific to that item) to evaluate them to determine if they meet your criteria. Include research on those products: what company distributes, farms or raised them, the price, their sustainability commitment. Make a

recommendation on which product you will use. Was your checklist helpful in making your decision? (E.g. Grass-fed beef striploin from WU Ranch versus AAA striploin from the Butcher Shop) or (Heirloom Tomatoes from 100Km Foods versus Heirloom Tomatoes from Carrot Cache)

Grading Rubric

Level of Achievement= Proficient Competent Novice Minimum achievement

80-100 50-79 25-49 0-24

Introduction 10%

Defines Sustainability Introduces Design of assigned Creates Mission Statement

Checklist 40%

Contains at least 40 requirements. Evaluates product using Planet, People, Profit, Policy

Justification 30%

Includes personal reasons for including each item on list, 4Ps, connection to class topics and research displayed

Evaluation of Products 20%

Chooses 2 products that are similar and evaluates them critically using checklist Makes recommendation. Displays research into 2 items

Total 100

Best Practices/Ideas: Did you define sustainability? Did you Introduce your checklist-why did you design it that way? Are there 5 questions you will ask every supplier? Did you Create a mission statement? Did you include the 4 Ps in your decisions? Are you thinking about ethics in terms of the environment and people? Did you Include price and research info in your comparisons? Did you prove that you are a sustainability ambassador? Use this as a tool to convince your staff clients and investors that you know what you are talking about. Pretend you have to explain each choice to someone who has no idea about ethics or sustainability with food. Demonstrate your critical thinking skills: What is the price comparison- does this affect your decision? You can make a list or a pie chart or a diagram, a slideshow, a poster, a video, a podcast. Be creative. A post on your blog. Design a webpage. You can use resources but make sure you tie you list to reasons discussed in the class Feel free to include infographics or graphs to justify your list.

While it is possible to create this list from your notes and the class, research is encouraged. However, do not use just 1 or 2 previously published works to create your entire checklist. This should be personal to you. Make sure you cite your references.