By Most of the attention surrounding the off-the-field aspects of Super Bowl XLVIII is centered, not surprisingly, on the the weather–specifically, the potential for cold, nasty winter weather. Whaddya expect when the game is played outdoors in New Jersey on Feb II?!?
The greenness of the Exit XVI-W Super Bowl has gotten comparatively little ink. But there is a positive story here.
Last month, GSB highlighted some of the ways the NFL and PSE&G, a local utility and Energy Services Company, are greening the Big Game (encouraging mass transit use, the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits to offset the carbon generated by the event, etc). Today we take a look at the greening of the Super Bowl’s food service.
My guess is that the dining options at the Super Bowl inside MetLife Stadium will be expensive but I don’t have to guess about the food service’s greenness. Delaware North Companies Sportservice, which won the MetLife Stadium concession contract in 2013 from ARAMARK, touts environmental stewardship as a core value through its GreenPath program. While the description of GreenPath on the Delaware North website is understated, Delaware North’s actual green performance at MetLife Stadium is bold.*
Per the January 10th edition of Environmental Leader, Delaware North and MetLife Stadium “earned the title of first Certified Green Restaurant Stadium (CGR) from the Green Restaurant Association (GRA).”
This is a very big deal since Delaware North is presiding over the largest food service operation ever to receive a CGR–MetLife has 200 restaurants and can serve approximately 100,000 people in a day. That’s not a misprint!
MetLife Stadium, host of Super Bowl XLVIII, and its food concessionaire, Delaware North Sportservice, earned the first-ever Certified Green Restaurant Stadium designation from the Green Restaurant Association.
Delaware North and MetLife Stadium took 61 greening steps on the way to CGR status, including:
- All waste kitchen oil converted to biodiesel fuel
- Composting all kitchen scraps
- Donating all leftover food
- Recycling cardboard, plastic, glass, aluminum, and paper
- Eliminating all polystyrene foam containers (YES!)
One of the 200 restaurants at MetLife Stadium (Photo Credit: MetLifeStadium.com)
That this Super Bowl features Super Green Dining should not be a surprise. In addition to the other, substantive sustainability-related aspects surrounding the game, MetLife Stadium itself is as state-of-the-green-art as can be without being LEED Certified.
Unless we’ve missed something, the organizers of the Sochi Olympics, which start 4 days after the Super Bowl, are not taking up the Green Dining banner. GSB will look into the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, Wimbledon, and US Open to see what’s on their Green Dining menus.
* Under-promising while delivering is the anti-greenwash. Very impressive.
Since reading your articles, Lew, I’ve come to realise there’s almost a two-speed greening of the US. At the national level very little is happening, and the state level is patchy, but at the grassroots level there’s a surprising amount happening – including Delaware North Sportservice. Very heartening, and I wish Australian sport was as proactive.
You know I’m not exactly a football fan, but I am a fan of GREEN dining and this makes me smile. I”m glad that the Super Bowl will be a leader in this arena. This is another thing to celebrate on Super Bowl Sunday.
Thanks for the comments, ACFlory and Candy. ACFLory: Has Australian Sport been lagging? I’ve been watching the early rounds of the Australian Open in Melbourne and it looks so bloody hot! Candy: Yes, celebrate the greening of the game itself and the dining…I know one or two people going to the game and will ask for a report.
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