Here is a RAISE publication for your use. ROADMAP

In major metropolitan areas, the restaurant industry has already overtaken manufacturing as a primary employer. But much of the industry’s growth has not benefited its workforce. Ten of the 20 lowest-paying jobs are in the restaurant industry, and five of these are tipped occupations.

Over 13 million workers are directly employed in food preparation and serving occupations. Fifty-two percent of all workers who are at or below the minimum wage are in the restaurant industry, yet restaurant workers make up only 15 percent of all workers in all occupations earning an hourly wage.

Our campaign aims to:

• Address racial segregation in the industry through a combination of policies and programs that increase worker training and certification in livable wage job skills, push and train employers to desegregate their restaurants, and engage consumers in supporting restaurants that desegregate.

• Mandate transparent, formalized hiring, promotion, and training processes.

• Increase awareness and understanding of local labor laws.

• Strengthen and extend existing legislation to facilitate greater access to healthcare and scheduling rights among all restaurant workers in the Bay Area.

• Ensure workers have a voice in ownership and control over gratuities and service charges left on their behalf.

Eco-Cycle’s ZERO WASTE series is a weekly webcast about recycling, composting, reducing waste, and more!These short and informative video lessons are accompanied by a variety of age-appropriate activities for you and your family that will help integrate the week’s lesson into your life—like doing a waste audit at home, recipes and DIYs for commonly-packaged foods and products to help you avoid plastic packaging, and viewing documentaries for an in-depth look into a topic.

“This is a vital moment, one in which you as the Governor have the power to define the way our state responds to inequality and the disproportionate impact that this pandemic is having in communities of color. Colorado has the power to be an innovator and lead the country in moving to address the current crisis through an equity lens. “

VIEW THE LETTER

Contact Debra Brown, Executive Director of Good Business Colorado for more information or to get involved. debra@goodbusinessco.org

REGENERATIVE ORGANIZATION

“A living, evolving and naturally functioning organization where abundance and resilience are recurring outcomes of its underlying health.” nRhythm

There is a fantastic small library of videos that are full length webinar presentation recordings which are a great introduction into regenerative organizational design. There are live webinars coming up in May as well, I’m trying to connect with nRhythm to collaborate.

VISIT WEBINAR RECORDINGS PAGE

“We actively support an organizational design that intentionally develops team members as active decision-makers, co-creators and collaborators. Organizational well-being is impossible without an ecosystem of committed team members, engaged partners and a thriving community. Our iterative and evolutionary approach is informed by a living systems design to address organizational roles and responsibilities, systems and processes as well as resource allocation and investment. We are actively involved in designing, creating and managing organizations who desire a more holistic and regenerative approach. We call this the Regenerative Organization.” nRhythm

The Capital Institute

April 2015

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REGENERATIVE CAPITALISM

How Universal Principles And Patterns Will Shape Our New Economy

“My practical experience working with real-world regenerative projects and the solid science- based theory of regenerative economies presented here have made me confident in both the promise of Regenerative Capitalism, and the fact that it is already unfolding before our eyes. What remains is the immense challenge to spur a broad awakening to the profound social and economic transition it implies. Recognizing our shared purpose can help sustain the unwavering drive toward the great work that lies ahead.”

. . .

“This quest’s most important discovery was that universal principles and patterns of systemic health and development actually do exist, and are known to guide behavior in: living systems from bacteria to human beings; nonliving systems from hurricanes to transportation systems and the Internet; and societal systems including monetary systems5 and yes, economies.”

. . .

“Our goal here is to illuminate this new synthesis and to craft a coherent narrative around it so that it may be applied to defuse today’s global threats, particularly those arising from outdated and at-times-misguided beliefs in business, finance, and economics. The implications for how we think about organizing and managing our capitalist system are profound. Some will reject this framework as idealistic; others will say it does not go far enough with reform. Our belief is that this framework can bridge between the current world and the one that is in the process of emerging in a way that is both realistic and necessarily fundamental. This paper aims to make a contribution to the learning journey that lies ahead for policymakers, as well as progressive leaders in business and finance. “ John Fullerton

Jock Gilchrist, Research Fellow

Hunter Lovins, President

Natural Capitalism Solutions

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Executive Summary

“This report uses the concept of “regenerative” as a framework for our analysis of Colorado’s economy. “Regenerative” here refers to a system that enhances ecological, economic, and social health. Regenerative systems incorporate design principles that mimic those found in natural systems. They transcend false dichotomies (e.g. economic health or environmental protection; social well-being or sound business practices) and outdated narratives (e.g. economic success is based on competition and zero-sum scenarios; we can’t solve climate change and build a prosperous economy at the same time).1

Our economic analysis assessed Colorado’s economic sectors on a spectrum of more regenerative to less. We began this research with the hypothesis that several regenerative industries, businesses, and systems already exist in the state and make major economic contributions. We also examined whether the historically significant but less regenerative sectors, businesses, and systems are a shrinking share of Colorado’s economic performance. While this report was not written to offer policy or business prescriptions, given the confirmation we found of these hypotheses, we believe that nurturing Colorado’s regenerative systems and ensuring their continued upward trajectory is the best way to achieve a healthy economy, populace, and planet.

Colorado’s is a diverse and unique economy. We surveyed its economic landscape to assess the relative size and strength of most sectors. While our statistics often highlight Metro Denver, with emphasis on the Boulder-Denver region (roughly 85 percent of the state’s economy), we give statewide statistics throughout the report. When relevant, we also offer national statistics. For each industry, we focused on employment size, contributions to GDP, and noteworthy trends. Our statistics paint a picture of key divergences from common claims about Colorado’s economy.”

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ABOUT THE ROADMAP

The magnitude of the food waste problem is difficult to comprehend. The U.S. spends $218 billion a year — 1.3% of GDP — growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. The causes of food waste are diverse, ranging from crops that never get harvested, to food left on overfilled plates, to near-expired milk and stale bread.

ReFED is a coalition of over 30 business, nonprofit, foundation, and government leaders committed to building a different future, where food waste prevention, recovery, and recycling are recognized as an untapped opportunity to create jobs, alleviate hunger, and protect the environment — all while stimulating a new multi-billion dollar market opportunity. ReFED developed A Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste as a data-driven guide to collectively take action to reduce food waste at scale nationwide.

KEY BENEFITS

The Roadmap outlines an actionable path to cutting U.S. food waste by over 20% — 13 million tons annually – while generating $100 billion of economic value over the next decade and creating 15,000 new jobs.

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RESTAURANTS OFTEN DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES by their delicious cuisine, unique menu, top-notch service, inviting atmosphere, and/or value pricing. We have all witnessed the wave of restaurants shifting towards sustainable, locally sourced, and organic food as a way to stand apart. Now, a growing number of restaurants are exploring ways to add equity to their menu — making the fair treatment and compensation of employees a prominent part of their mission, operations, customer appeal, and overall brand. There’s an increased interest — and appetite — for equity, not only among customers, but also among restaurant owners, and of course, restaurant workers.

The purpose of this Racial Equity Toolkit is to provide restaurant management with practical resources for assessing, planning, and implementing steps toward racial equity at your business. There is no step too small: every action you take helps your business thrive and fosters stronger local relationships with your workers and consumers. This toolkit combines the expertise of three national organizations: Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), Race Forward, and the Center for Social Inclusion.

Collectively, these organizations have decades of experience in restaurant-standards innovation and racial-equity consulting. To ensure this tool is useful, realistic, and accessible for real-life people in the industry, we partnered with two respected fine dining and casual dining restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area: Alta (San Francisco) and Homeroom (Oakland).

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ABOUT THE RESTAURANT FOOD WASTE ACTION GUIDE

This Guide is a how-to resource based on interviews with sustainability and operations teams at restaurants of varying sizes, a review of businesses’ processes and operational data, and interviews with food recovery organizations and ReFED’s Advisory Council.

The Guide is designed for restaurant sustainability directors, owners, and others in leadership roles in the U.S. restaurant industry who are involved in creating or monitoring food waste reduction strategies. It provides an overview of the national food waste challenge, presents opportunities for companies to address it while improving business outcomes, and identifies action-oriented solutions, tools, and best practices.

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Good Business Colorado is the business voice advocating for a prosperous economy, equitable communities, and a sustainable environment. 

How GBC advances our shared values:

● Advocating for local, state and federal policies that reflect our values

● Providing an alternative perspective to traditional business organizations

● Sparking more involvement of like-minded businesses 

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This study represents the first national employer survey of work and human resource management in the US Restaurant Industry. It documents the range of practices adopted by employers and how those practices affect turnover and employment stability—problems that are endemic across the industry. We examined management practices and outcomes in four customer segments: fine upscale dining, casual fine dining, moderately priced family restaurants, and fast food/quick service (fast food) restaurants. High levels of employee turnover are problematic in restaurants serving all four customer segments—leading to higher employee costs and lower service quality and organizational performance. In fact, our survey data demonstrates that better human resource practices can reduce employee turnover almost by half.

We surveyed restaurants in the 33 largest metropolitan areas of the country, where wages and the cost of living are likely to be higher than in smaller cities and towns—and where higher competition is likely to drive employers to invest more in employees in order to compete more effectively on quality and service. Over half of these restaurants are located in states with tipped and non-tipped minimum wage rates that are considerably higher than the federal minimum rates. Thus, the wages, human resource practices, and turnover reported by managers in this sample should represent somewhat better conditions than those found in a nationally representative study. Nonetheless, even in this sample, the proportion of restaurants that adopt better human resource (HR) practices and invest in the workforce is modest. Several findings are noteworthy.

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Methodology

This report is based on focus groups and interviews of employers, managers, and workers from 33

restaurants in eight U.S. cities that present a broad array of experiences in terms of size, age, segment,

cuisine, and employment practices. Focus groups answered questions about turnover costs, worker

productivity, job quality, challenges and obstacles, and employment practices. Nine restaurants were

selected for “high-road” case studies that exhibited strong employment practices.

The High Road

Employers defined the “high road” as employment practices that support workers and unleash their

loyalty, creativity, and productivity to make the restaurant successful. While specific practices varied,

these “high-road” policies fell into the following three areas: providing livable wages; maintaining a

healthy workplace through paid sick days, vacation, or health insurance; and creating career ladders

for employees. High-road employers emphasized that the benefits of increased productivity of invested

long-term workers and the reduced cost of employee turnover outweigh the short-term costs of highroad

practices.

SLM White Paper 2016

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“This paper explains why ecological and regenerative farming systems provide an attractive investment opportunity. It is intended for institutional investors, family offices and investment managers with an interest in real assets and/or impact investing. “ Paul McMahon

This is intended for cross-reference value, it does not target restaurants at all. But, if you’re interested in understanding more about how grasslands operate within our food ecosystem, this is a dense read full of information.