It’s hot in the kitchen—and not just because of the equipment. Climate change is taking its toll on the environment, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation, production, and consumption of food. To help reduce their carbon footprints, club culinary operations are implementing strategies to tackle this crisis head-on. From relying on reusable packaging and composting to in-house gardens and more plant-based ingredients, putting these practices in place will allow for a more sustainable future. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Plastic utensils and Styrofoam containers, once banquet table staples for golf luncheons and member barbecues, are slowly phasing out of party setups. At Musket Ridge Golf Club in Myersville, Md., where Executive Chef Kyle Roberson heads up operations, plateware and silverware are largely reusable. “I switched out our main large container that we used a lot over 5-6 years ago from Styrofoam to a more sustainable biodegradable container,” he says. 

At Hendersonville (N.C.) Country Club, plastic and Styrofoam containers were replaced with biodegradable supplies seven years ago when Executive Chef Steve Boeger joined the kitchen team. He believes this decision is helping to reduce the club’s carbon footprint and thinks that education is a great motivator. “I like to remind our staff that even a step in the right direction can make an impact,” he says. “When they are aware of the impact they are placing on the environment, they seem to get on board. I was always amazed that this idea wasn’t thought about by many until they were taught.”

Supportive communities that promote waste reduction are also influential at the club level. Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae, Calif., has implemented reusable service items for all in-house dining, with garbage, compost and single-stream sorting stations set up for staff, members and guests. “I have found California to be highly conscientious and accommodating on these efforts,” notes Executive Chef John Reynolds, CCE.

From Seed to Soil

Cultivating local ingredients on-site requires time and consistent dedication, but the payoff yields fresh produce with homegrown flavor. Boeger grows herbs at Hendersonville every year and credits his green thumb to his previous job, where a 10-acre organic garden serviced the restaurant. Fresh basil and mint are incorporated into a summer salad of burrata and fresh watermelon, as well as in a peanut fried rice dish with duck and a fig BBQ glaze. “I have bought basil from produce companies for years, and after a day, it doesn’t come close to fresh clipped minutes before the dishes go out to our members,” he says.

Green Hills recently planted a small herb and vegetable garden and utilized it for summer kids’ camp programming—a concept Reynolds has introduced to multiple clubs over his career. “I am a firm believer and teacher that kids who grow vegetables eat vegetables,” he says, with an eye toward future health-conscious consumers. Homegrown summer squash, kale, tomatoes and herbs also have a place on Green Hills’ seasonal vegetable sauté. 

Scraps of food that go uneaten represent an opportunity for clubs to repurpose them via composting. At Green Hills, under local and state requirements that stipulate an organics recycling program, front-of-house collection bins enable proper materials sorting. Meanwhile, Musket Ridge takes composting into its own hands with a zero-food-waste initiative, which began in 2011. Roberson and his staff depend on the Bokashi method, a Japanese-originated fermentation process that uses microorganisms to break down food waste.

“This method allows items such as proteins and dairy products to be composted, unlike a traditional composting method,” he explains.

Full composting bins in the kitchen are retrieved by the grounds maintenance crew and transported to a designated compost site where they are covered. Left alone, the waste then turns into a rich, organic fertilizer that the crew uses on different parts of the property. According to Roberson, this process enables the club to keep up to four tons of food waste out of landfills every year. 

From Land to Sea

Meatless meals have become a menu fixture for a la carte dishes, as well as special events, where vegan and vegetarian requests are more frequent. Not only does this allow chefs to experiment with new flavors, but their focus on plant-based ingredients helps reduce carbon emissions. Musket Ridge features a tofu pad Thai dish—the only plant-based item on its banquet men—but Roberson is able to incorporate other dishes as desired. (The club grill’s a la carte menu includes a plant-based burger as the result of one of its regular golfers.) 

At Hendersonville Country Club, Boeger counts 43 dishes that can be prepared vegetarian. He also includes two vegan entrees that are menu mainstays: a vegan rice bowl and a Brussels sprouts side dish prepared with a plant-based mayonnaise, pickled red onion and a drunken honey (made with bourbon, sugar and xanthan gum used as a thickening agent to resemble honey). 

Green Hills’ banquet menu is well-stocked with plant-based options, and Reynolds can prepare plant-based, center-of-the-plate replacements for meat and seafood upon request. “I have designed menus like this for over 20 years, but I have found a particularly receptive and appreciative member base at GHCC,” he says. 

Specialties include vegan mushroom Wellington, ratatouille strata, vegan vegetable risotto and roasted butternut squash steaks.

Seafood represents another opportunity for chefs to make more sustainable choices. Boeger follows the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list for purchasing guidance and maintains relationships with fishermen in the Outer Banks, N.C., area, along with Triar Seafood Co. of Hollywood, Fla., and Trout Farms in western North Carolina.  

Reynolds has a vested interest in sustainable seafood, having studied marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“I have been using quality farmed salmon since the late 1990s in New York [where he spent the bulk of his private club career],” he says. Reynolds began with Faroe Island Salmon, then switched to Skuna Bay Salmon after returning to California. “Both employ flotillas of moving pens in pristine waters and the highest quality of natural feed,” he notes. “These controlled variables make for a well-exercised, healthy living and well-fed fish that yields high-quality and consistent product that I am proud to feature on our menus.”

Reynolds uses Santa Monica Seafood as his primary seafood purveyor and features White Central American Farmed Shrimp and scallops that are FMA- and Atlantic Scallop Management Plan-approved. (And when menu planning calls for sustainable, organic meats, he relies on Allen Bros/Chef’s Warehouse and Golden Gate Meat Company, which works with small, family-owned farms that focus on grass-fed, humanely raised animals.)

An Eye to the Future

Looking ahead, chefs can consider other ways to practice more sustainable sourcing. When planning 2025 budgets, culinary managers might consider equipment upgrades that minimize power consumption and offer cost-savings benefits. 

For instance, investing in energy-efficient appliances decreases water usage and reduces electric bills. This past spring, when Musket Ridge’s walk-in freezer required a complete overhaul, the machine was replaced with a more energy-efficient model. While neither Hendersonville nor Green Hills are due for a kitchen renovation, Boeger and Reynolds plan to investigate more energy-efficient appliances in the future.