Green Award 2013

The hood vent at Forage is a smart little thing: it only works as hard as the cooks do, knowing to shut down when the griddles aren’t in use. The induction cooker, too, is the epitome of efficiency, transferring 80 percent of its energy to the cooking surface, compared to industry-standard gas at a paltry 20 percent. The cooker/steamer uses 38 percent less energy than a traditional steamer and is projected to save 250,000 litres of water every year. These initiatives, among many at the Robson Street eatery, are part of chef Chris Whittaker’s determination to reduce energy consumption by 30 percent. (They’re at 23 to date.) He’s also done away with excessive portions, and endeavours to use all parts of an animal: not just the bison chuck, say, but bison marrow and bison tongue, too. The restaurant’s green-mindedness extends to its waste as well: since the opening in late November, not a scrap has found its way to landfill. On top of normal composting and recycling programs, the one small bag of garbage produced each day is sent to a waste-to-energy plant in Burnaby and incinerated, the energy released going back onto the grid.

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