With global issues demanding urgent attention, there’s much more change in store for the restaurant and hospitality industry, and the communities who support and sustain it. One smart way to prep for those challenges is to future-proof.
Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF) and industry expert André LaRivière of The Next Course™ have partnered to create an industry first: a groundbreaking online sustainability program for both foodservice and hospitality professionals, and culinary and hospitality students: The SUSTAINABLE FOODSERVICE PROFESSIONAL (SFP) CERTIFICATE PROGRAM.
“Basic sustainable policies and adaptable practices provide the kind of resilience essential for businesses and careers,” said Janine Windsor, LEAF President and Founder. “Working in the industry for the past 10 years, it became obvious to us that there was a gap between what people aspired to accomplish and what they were able to achieve. Often restaurant owners and leadership had the best intentions and plans for how to make their restaurant more sustainable, but frontline staff weren’t always equipped with the knowledge or skills to support that effort. Or sometimes, leaders themselves would make poor sustainability decisions, not having the foundational knowledge to make good ones. We wanted to find a way to bring that foundational knowledge to the masses, in a convenient, inexpensive and accessible way.”
The Sustainable Foodservice Professional (SFP) program provides inspiring e-learning experiences on best practices in future-proof sustainability principles across all aspects of foodservice & hospitality operations and management. The SFP Level 1 course is available in two versions, the Professional Edition and Student Edition, each offers individual or group packages to suit the needs of an operation or campus.
Designed for mobile learning, the SFP Level 1 course features experts and leaders in the Culinary and Sustainability industries, and combines inspiring videos, challenging quizzes and practical resources in bite-sized lessons, covering the essentials in five sections. Each explores a particular set of choices every operation must make, from menu concepts, sourcing products and equipping kitchens to staff policies and customer communications; and outlines the many opportunities to embed future-proof policies and solutions into those options.
“Even before these unprecedented times, our industry was facing the need for substantial change across the board,” said André LaRivière, The Next Course™. “And to implement that change, both professionals and students must update their toolkit to boost sustainability in our food systems and produce measurable, sustainable savings in reduced energy, water and waste. It’s mission-critical knowledge that will set professionals apart and help them rise to the top of the hiring pool in the future.”
Download the course syllabus, try a sample lesson and explore all the registration options at www.sfpcertificate.ca.
About LEAF
Since 2009, Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF) has worked with more than 100 restaurants, cafes, and food trucks to help reduce the environmental impact of the Canadian foodservice industry. LEAF is the only national non-profit foodservice certification of its kind. LEAF Certification offers accreditation to restaurants demonstrating efforts in environmental and sustainable foodservice practices, across ten key areas of sustainability. Every year with the release of LEAF’s Guide to Canada’s Greenest Restaurants, we champion sustainable foodservice practice and make it easy for diners to find green dining options. Follow LEAF on Twitter @LEAF_Canada, on Instagram @LEAF_Canada, and on Facebook L.E.A.F
About The Next Course™
After a career in public broadcasting, André LaRivière traded his ‘passionate amateur’ status for that of professional chef at New York City’s French Culinary Institute. He later combined his experience to explore the Canadian restaurant industry for trade and consumer magazines. In 2007, André founded the Green Table Network, a not-for-profit enterprise fostering sustainability with more than 100 members around B.C. In 2012, he helped facilitate the fully sustainable renovation of O’Doul’s on Robson into the award-winning Forage restaurant, an experience that produced The Next Course: Reinventing the Modern Urban Restaurant (Mise-en-Page Press, 2018) aimed at helping his industry colleagues ‘future-proof’ their operations. The book also became the framework for the SFP Certificate Program.
