Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Brain, David

Keywords

Sustainable Restaurants, Reform, Ecological Community

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is threatening the survival of the global ecological community and reforms must be implemented to reduce the global carbon footprint to sustain all forms of life. This is an enormous task; however, it must be done. Restaurants, as the largest commercial energy consumer, are a hotspot for sustainability reforms on a local, national, and global level. The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) is at the forefront of the restaurant reform movement, providing quantitative analysis criteria to certify sustainable restaurants. Not only does their method reduce carbon emissions, but it also saves money, while taking advantage of a strong niche market. Inspired by the GRA, this thesis uses a multidimensional method, which I have coined as ECO3, to assess the sustainability potential of the Four Winds Cafe at New College of Florida. Part I is assesses the cafe's ecological performance using the GRA criteria. Part II assesses the finances of operation and the reforms that created a profitable production. Part III assesses the ecological community's perspective of the cafe by analyzing the results of a survey conducted on the student body. The results of this thesis strongly suggest that the ECO3 method is saving the Four Winds Cafe from chronic debt and unsatisfactory service, while molding a sustainability hotspot. Finally, a strategic plan, inspired by the work of Gary Alan Fine, outlines the coming staff paradigm shift and future menu improvements. More so, the results of this thesis suggest that college restaurants across the nation can foster the next generation of environmentalist restaurateurs using the Green Fee movement as a tool for sustainability reforms.

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