Monday, February 11, 2008
Bon Appetit Magazine featured Lawrence’s Local Burger this month as its number 10 most eco-friendly restaurant in the nation.
Hilary Brown, who founded Local Burger, 714 Vermont Street, three years ago, said the restaurant’s focus on sustainable agriculture and its commitment to sourcing its food locally were what attracted attention from the national magazine.
Hilary Brown, owner of Local Burger, 714 Vermont St., holds up Bon Appetite magazine, which recently recognized Local Burger in its "Hot 10 Eco-friendly Restaurants" for its use of local food. The restaurant serves locally grown organic produce and locally raised meat.
Unlike most restaurants that import their food from farms all over the country, Local Burger receives all of its meat from farms near Lawrence, which cuts down on the distance the food has to travel.
“When it’s sourced locally, you’re cutting down on the fossil fuels trucks have to burn in order to travel that far,” Brown said.
Local Burger only imports from farms that use sustainable and humane practices.
The farms raise their animals according to their natural, intended diets and don’t use chemicals, hormones or anti-biotics. When animals are raised on unnatural diets, they are less nutritious because they have less vitamins, Omega 3, CLA and fatty acids, Brown said
“There are no chemicals and additives in the food we serve and anyone can find any ingredient we use here,” Brown said.
The restaurant also recycles everything its staff uses in the kitchen and composts all of its organic waste.
Bon Appetit isn’t the first magazine to recognize the restaurant’s commitment toward sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly practices. The young restaurant has also been featured in Gourmet, Relevant Times, My Midwest, Kansas Alumni and Outside Magazine. It was also featured in an episode of Big Ideas for a Small Planet on the Sundance Movie Channel.
Kelly Kearns, Kansas City, Kan., junior, who works at Local Burger, said the eco-friendly concept was what attracted her to the job.
“I really liked what they were about, and I agreed with what they were trying to accomplish,” Kearns said.
The two owners of Local Burger plan on opening a second restaurant in the next year. Brown said she wants it to be more energy efficient and sustainable. A couple of ideas she mentioned were more eco-friendly to-go containers and a more efficient water heating system.
Karen Black, co-owner of Local Burger, said she expected the new restaurant to go up in the Kansas City area.
—Edited by Sasha Roe
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