Energy Conservation: This means everything from buying ENERGY STAR rated appliances to simply turning out the lights.

Water Conservation:   Low flow sprayers and water efficient appliances are just the beginning. Water conservation can include sink aerators, foot or arm operated sinks (no turning taps on and off), and even signage to remind staff of water reduction techniques, can all save you money and earn you points towards becoming a certified green kitchen.

Waste Reduction:   Composting and recycling are by far the easiest ways to reduce the waste you send to the dump. Investing in re-usable products is another way to quickly reduce your environmental footprint.

Green Cleaning:   Many business owners are leery of green cleaning products because they have a reputation of not doing as good a job as their stronger (and more chemically laden) counterparts. Today however, that is not the case. There is not only a large selection of green products; but, they are also certified to clean your kitchen just as well. 

Food Management Group, Inc. (FMG) in partnership with Landmark Hospital of Athens, Georgia; a Long-Term Acute Care Hospital dedicated to the health and well-being of ventilator dependent and wound care patients; has opened the first green kitchen. FMG with the direction of Chef Andy Revella developed a State of the art cooking platform that needs no hoods. Cooking with no fat is not only healthy but it is also fire proof, diminishing the need for a hood system in the kitchen. Adding to this, Chef Andy and FMG implemented an upscale menu with specialty designed recipes. Healthy, well balanced diets, great tasting food from upscale recipes, and detail in presentation of the food has received phenomenal reviews by the patients and staff alike. This is the future of Food Service. With the addition of three more Landmark Hospital locations under construction, FMG is looking forward to the future of“GREEN”.

Food Management Group, Inc. 

Cooking with local and sustainable ingredients is a popular trend on menus across the country.  How a commercial kitchen functions is just as important when it comes to the greening of the food service industry.

According to the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), commercial kitchens are the largest consumer of electricity in the commercial sector. While greening your food service establishment may seem like a daunting task, it doesn’t have to be. Lowering your utility bill by using more energy efficient products helps to offset the cost generated from buying green. Here are some tips and statistics to make your transition a bit easier. 

      Sustainability through Green Kitchens

In partnership with our hospital partners, FMG developed its first green kitchen.  We now has more than 20 operating FMG Green Kitchens and we are planning many more. “A big push for FMG going forward is our green kitchen approach,” Craig Boudreaux declares. “It’s a greaseless, much healthier approach. We are able to provide very high-quality comfort food in healthcare institutions that doesn’t taste like institutional food and is 30 to 40 percent healthier in many cases than a traditional kitchen approach to foodservice.”

The concept of the FMG Green Kitchen started when Mr. Boudreaux – who has been a client of FMG’s for approximately 28 years and at the time was running a hospital system whose foodservice operation had no in-house kitchen.  The facilities were receiving food catered from larger healthcare facilities that were not meeting Boudreaux’s standards for quality, variety or heat retention. “We had Craig in mind, for the first FMG Green Kitchen locations over 6 years ago,” Dave Witten, Chairman recalls.   “We were able to take an area in Craig’s hospital that was a storeroom and convert it into a fully functional kitchen, without the need for major renovations and related expenses.”  “The beauty of the FMG Green Kitchen was that it allowed our hospitals to install a fully functional cooking system in a small space with no need for hooded ventilation and gas lines saving many thousands of dollars in renovation cost.” Boudreaux said.  “Additionally, the FMG Green Kitchen gave our hospitals a competitive edge for marketing purposes.  We are able to tell our patients about how the Green Kitchen would allow us to serve high quality food with a 40% or greater reduced caloric count, as well as a carbon footprint reduction of over 70% compared to a traditional kitchen.”  This is disruptive technology and programming that we feel fits very nicely into the future of healthcare dining services that we can also reduce the impact on our environment”