The Sustainable Diner Action Planning Workshop on World Food Day 2019
October 2019
Representatives from The Sustainable Diner project team of WWF-Philippines and PCEPSDI gathered together for the Action Planning Workshop with restaurant partners from Quezon City, Tagaytay City, and Cebu City.
On October 16, 2019, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines’ The Sustainable Diner: A Key Ingredient for Sustainable Tourism project conducted an Action Planning Workshop in partnership with the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI) at the Novotel Araneta Center Cubao. To commemorate World Food Day, which is celebrated annually all over the world on the same day, the project gathered stakeholders from the private sector from three of its partner cities - Quezon City, Tagaytay City, and Cebu City - to discuss how to best integrate Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) principles into the operations of establishments that fall under the food service industry. The workshop is one of the project’s key activities, aiding in the fulfillment of its overall goal - to transform the food service industry into a low carbon industry through the adoption of sustainable approaches.
Melody Melo-Rijk, WWF-Philippines’ Project Manager for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippines, shared project updates with restaurant representatives from its three partner cities.
The Action Planning Workshop served as a platform for stakeholders to discuss action points related to the four core principles of SCP: (1) promoting local and sustainable sourcing; (2) reducing food and overall waste; (3) lessening reliance on single-use plastics; and (4) making use of resources, such as water and energy, in an efficient manner. It also allowed them to share best practice with each other and to collaborate on finding ways by which they can start integrating the desired practices into their restaurant’s operations. The program started with a brief recap on The Sustainable Diner project and its objectives, before proceeding to the presentation of project updates, both of which were delivered by Melody Melo-Rijk, WWF’s Project Manager for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippines. She also shared with the stakeholders the status of the project’s ongoing studies, which include a Cost Benefit Analysis, a Life Cycle Analysis, and a Food Donation Feasibility Study. Afterwards, she discussed in detail the rationale behind the four core principles of SCP, which the project chose to highlight and prioritize.
Maureen Grace Lebria, Programme and Projects Director for PCEPSDI, discussed the revised NELP-GCP criteria for the food service industry.
Meanwhile, Maureen Grace Lebria, Programme and Projects Director for PCEPSDI, concluded the morning session by presenting and launching the National Ecolabeling Product - Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP) revised criteria for the food service industry, as well as discussing the requirements for the fulfillment of the given criteria. The revised criteria are subdivided based on four identified significant issues related to food and food service, namely (1) Food and Health Safety; (2) Nutrition; (3) Environmental Management; and (4) Resource Efficiency. These were put in place in order to provide safe and healthy meals to Filipino diners, to reduce waste generated by food service establishments, and to efficiently manage resources being consumed by the food service industry. These criteria are applicable to establishments who render services through the provision of prepared or already cooked meals, which include quick service restaurants, canteens and cafeterias, catering services, casual dining establishments, and fine dining restaurants.
Liezl Stuart Del Rosario, The Sustainable Diner project’s Policy Specialist, facilitating the restaurant action plan formulation in the afternoon with project partners from Cebu City.
The afternoon session focused on the workshop and the restaurant action plan formulation, which the stakeholders did in groups. The primary goal of the afternoon session was to help the restaurants identify various SCP-related issues and measures that will help them become sustainable or reach a higher level of sustainability. The restaurant representatives were divided according to the partner city they belong to in order to make the sharing of best sustainability practices more pointed and applicable amongst the members of each group. The individual SCP action plans were then submitted to the WWF project staff, who will be visiting each restaurant to validate the action points raised and to further refine the action plans depending on the specific needs of each restaurant. Before the workshop ended, The Sustainable Diner gave out restaurant reminder cards to the stakeholders present, which will serve as environmental education tools for their consumers so that they also will be able to practice sustainable dining in their own simple ways.
The Sustainable Diner project would like to thank our project partners from PCEPSDI, the SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, Go! Salads, Earth Kitchen, Zubuchon, Anzani, Sugbo Mercado, Circa 1900, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nurture Wellness Village, Bag of Beans, and Siglo Modern Filipino for attending the Action Planning Workshop and for sharing their thoughts and best practices with everyone. By continuing to work together, we will be able to show that it is possible to promote sustainable consumption and production through multi-stakeholder cooperation here in the Philippines!
The Sustainable Diner project, under WWF-Philippines’ Sustainable Consumption and Production, is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
For more information, please contact:
Melody Melo-Rijk
Project Manager
mmelorijk@wwf.org.ph
For media arrangements, please contact:
Pamela Luber
Integrated Marketing Communications Specialist
pluber@wwf.org.ph
Lorayne Roque
Sustainable Consumer Specialist
lroque@wwf.org.ph
