New York State of Mind

FoodService Director - What I Learned - Tracy Baker - Empire State Plaza - green

FoodService Director - What I Learned - Tracy Baker - Empire State Plaza - green

"Making the foodservice operation more sustainable fell under Governor Paterson's Executive Order No. 4. Sodexo and the Office of General Services (OGS), which operates the downtown Albany office complex, partnered to make this governor's initiative successful.

Empire State Plaza currently has seven points of café service, which includes the bakery, catering, concessions and carts. Food selection is primarily the difference between the services offered at each location. Each café highlights a different food selection program line. For example, our Italian concept is called Pastabilities; Capital Deli focuses on authentic New York-style deli selections and the Albany Room features an American-style dining buffet, soon to be a designated New York Bistro highlighting regional specialties.

For the composting, it starts in the kitchen, where the employees sort and separate the appropriate composting materials including food, paper and organic waste. Sodexo's waste management company then takes it to a local composting facility. New York State's Office of General Services, under Commissioner John Egan, has worked diligently with Sodexo in developing recycling centers and marketing as well as directing guests about how to sort and separate. Trash bins in the cafés now direct customers to separate their garbage into separate bins for composting, recycling and other waste.

The most challenging aspect of putting the program in place is guest interaction and relying on the customer to sort and dispose of waste properly. The other big challenge was finding and having the availability of a composting facility in our geographical region. The composting program has been running smoothly for several months. The next wave is for us to be able to bring the finished compost to use on the grounds as mulch.

In fulfilling the executive order, the complex also recently switched to biodegradable disposables. The switch to biodegradables is an expensive ongoing challenge because the cost of biodegradable products is significantly more expensive. However, we initiated the switch in August and the products continue to evolve as different ones become available. The cafeteria produces about 12 cubic yards of waste per day. With the program in place, state officials hope to reduce this number by half during the next six months. We now collect approximately five tons of waste per month that can be composted. Next year, we hope to implement the program in all of the state's cafeterias, which together produce about 135 cubic yards of waste each month.

To market these changes, we've held several press conferences, including one on Earth Day. We fully marketed our recycling centers and promoted these changes on OGS's Web site as well as Sodexo's Catertrax site. We also sent out electronic newsletters through OGS and used table tents.

We learned that education is one of the keys to success. Learn as much as you can about composting, such as what will compost that is not biodegradable, and make sure you have a budget, market your efforts and have the support from all upper management and higher levels. Having New York State be committed to the environment was key, so any challenge that was encountered was immediately resolved with a proactive solution.

My advice would be to be willing to take a few steps forward and to take a few steps back. Put together a plan that is realistic and time friendly and don't try to do everything at once. Take it piece by piece and put everything together in a logical formation. Be sure to seek information from the experts."