So...I'm opening up a diner...HMMMM!! Exciting? Yes. A good idea? Maybe. Good for my community? Not so much. Staying true to my beliefs? Not at all.
What do I mean? For a long time I've worked towards simplifying, being self reliant and being kind to this Earth we all call home. It's always been my dream ... homesteading! Well the dream was alive and well when I had a paycheck every two weeks. I assumed the company I worked for practiced it's business in an ethical way. I guess I just thought about the way I wanted to live my life and not so much about the company I worked for. But now the buck starts and stops with me. Will I conduct my business in an ethical and moral way? Will I do anything to make a dollar?
I'm asking myself how a diner with not very healthy food is going to work? How am I going to feel good about it all? The health regulations don't easily allow for cloth hand towels, I hate single use anything....Paper napkins and placemats, take out containers...
Bleach and other chemical sanitizers are encouraged..vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda are virtually unknown.
On a positive note - I have decided to try and use local food where I can, not easy during winter, but I will try. And I will try my hardest to shop locally rather than having a National food supplier deliver to my door in an effort to keep my neighbours employed. The local butcher, fish monger, bakery and grocery store will supply my food and miscellaneous supplies. It won't be easy, it will definitely take more time, and it might turn into a logistical nightmare but I'm giving it a shot.
Food waste will be go to my chickens, my neighbours pigs and I will compost whatever I can.
Tomorrow I'll be visiting my local farmer's market..I heard there is a seller who is certified to sell her home made jams made from her homegrown fruit and I want to source out some locally baked sourdough bread, I heard it's also very good. Well wish me luck!!!
4 comments:
Good luck with all those regulations! I think that as long as you go into these things consciously and with the attitude that you will change what you can & accept what you can't, you'll be far ahead of most businesses which merely go for the lowest costs and highest profits.
You can ask Jeffrey at Bemused how they handle cloth hand-towels in the washroom. And I bet that Carol at the Flying Yellow Bread Bowl and the folks at Manzanita have some good tips for being green without too much tilting at windmills.
Can't wait to see it once it's open!
I wish you well with all the regulations and trying to stay true to your values. We have a hotel here who uses facecloths in their bathrooms to replace the paper towels. They have a large garbage can where you throw the facecloth in after you've wiped your hands. They are a very classy hotel too!! They also use cloth napkins at their tables.
Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I wish you lots of good luck in you endeavors.I know you can do it.
I know it is a lot of work getting ready to open the diner. I know that there will things that are difficult based on your values, but I know you will work it out to do what is best on all accounts. David and scrappy quilter have some good ideas. Having never worked for myself I don't have any experience to draw on, but I know if you believe in yourself and what you are doing it will show to the public you serve. You have our support for sure. - Wayne and Margy
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