Great Raft Brewing donates "spent grains" to Mahaffey Farms to feed livestock. Tiana Kennell/The Times
Jonathan Tolar at work at Great Raft Brewery.(Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith / The Times)Buy Photo
Local establishments are mixing business with apassion forpreserving the environment and giving back to thecommunity.
It begins with realizing there is a problem and resolving to find a solution.
Don OByrne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, was unnerved by the lack of mandated environmental practices in the local restaurant industry. Sohe decided to enforce his own standards forrecycling and proper waste disposal training at his restaurants in Shreveport-Bossier City.
I know a lot of restaurateurs, including myself, who love to talk about how we source locally, source sustainably, that we manage fresh food and how we want the finest and freshest ingredients. But you dont hear a lot of guys talking about, Hey, heres what were trying to do to help the environment so that we can continue serving this clean, wholesome, fresh food, OByrne said. If we dont have a clean earth, we arent going to have any good, local or sustainable food.
Don O'Bryne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, finds ways to recycle waste at his Shreveport-Bossier City restaurants.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
Meanwhile, local microbrewery Great Raft Brewing has forged a relationship with Bossier Parishs Mahaffey Farms and other local farmersto remedy a unique problem for both parties. Instead of tossingused grains left from making a batch of beer, Great Raft donates themto feed their livestock.
Local farmers save money on feedand it helps us quickly and safely dispose of the grain that would turn pretty nasty in a few days, said Andrew Nations, president/owner of Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport. Its a great way for both of us to get the most out of our raw materials.
The environmentally-friendly practices are examples of what can be done to make a positive economically and ecological impact on a community. And the recycling trailblazers have found unique ways to unify their personal passion and business tactics to make itworthwhile.
What theyre doing and why:
Recycling is an old habit OByrne instillsin his staff at his two restaurants. Its a habit learned at home from his wife, Amy, he said.
NEW:Popular juice bar says so long Bossier, hello Highland
"It came down to just the bare facts of, 'Let's do something good for our environment,'" O'Byrne said.
Its a personal passion for him, but it became a business matter. OByrne, who opened his first Don Juanz ten years ago in Bossier City, realized early on that his restaurant produced a substantial amount of waste daily.OByrne was determined to decrease his ecological footprint, he said.
After learning the average restaurant meal produces 1.5 poundsof wasteand95 percent of restaurant waste could be diverted from the landfill with proper systems in place, we felt a need to create a change in the local dining culture, OByrne said.
Great Raft Brewings production warehouse and tap room opened more than three years ago in Shreveport. They now distribute to retail stores, restaurants and bars regionally.
Evan McCommon from Mahaffey Farms collects the spent grain from Great Raft Brewery that he then uses as part of his livestock diet. (Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith / The Times)
Each batch of beer brewed uses approximately 1,500 pounds of high quality malted barley, Nations said. After it has run its course, the spent grain leftover from the malted barley can no longer used by the microbrewery, but it still has value.
Once the color and sugar is removed in the brewing process, the grains are removed and no longer needed, Nations said. This spent grain still has nutritional value and can be recycled beyond the brewing process.
There is no alcohol in the grains.
The barley that Great Raft uses in making it's beer. (Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith / The Times)
Since 2013, Great Raft has opted to donate the spent grains to a few local farmers to feed to their livestock instead of sending it to a landfill.
Farmers pick up grain several times a week totaling in roughly 12,000 poundsof spent grain, Nations said. This year we will generate over 600,000 poundsof spent grain going directly to local farmers.
How it makes a difference:
Evan McCommon of Mahaffey Farms makes three to four trips to Great Raft to pick up two to four tons of the spent grain per week. He then transports the large bins to his Princeton farm and distributes it to a portion of his cattle, pigs and laying hens.
Mahaffey Farms is a regenerative farm with a focus on building soil and biodiversity to regenerate our land and produce nutrient dense, wholesome, foods, McCommon said.
Evan McCommon, owner of Mahaffey Farms, picks spent grain from Great Raft Brewing to fed his livestock.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
Although Mahaffey Farms cattle are grass-fed, it isnt always enough for the livestocks diet. Due to the change in genetics over the years, McCommon said some cows have problems gaining weight on a grass-only diet or with producing milk. The spent grain, which is rich in protein and fiber, acts as a supplement so the animals can recover and become healthy.
Out of our 150 head of grass fed cattle we probably have about 20 to 30 that are getting the protein supplement from the grains for recovery, McCommon said. At any given time during the summer, we give the grains at a rate of about 10 to 15 percent of the daily ration to our pigs and laying hens. Its a nice filler and saves us a few percentage points in feed costs.
A worker at Mahaffey Farms transports spent grains from Great Raft Brewing to livestock in need of protein supplements.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
Its a well-worth the effort of transporting, as it saves the farming company about 3percent off the bottom line, McCommon said, and makes the livestock healthier.
Its a really wonderful use of a waste product from another industry, McCommon said. The grains used from Great Raft are all non-GMO, so for me as an ecologically conscious farmer, Im trying to pay attention to what goes into my animals and what ultimately comes out of my product.
OByrne ends up paying more money than saving in order to recycle to the extent he desires.
Recycling isnt mandated for restaurants, he said, but he chooses to pay extra to have recycling receptacles at his Bossier City restaurant, as well as his second location that opened in Shreveport earlier this year.
Don O'Bryne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, finds ways to recycle waste at his Shreveport-Bossier City restaurants.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)
He pays an additional $54 a month, per location, to have a cardboard recycling bin behind his restaurant. A plastic recycling container costs on average $45-$55 per month to use, he said.
To properly recycle oil and grease, he pays about $45 per month to have bins to dump used oil. The oil is then processed and reused for oil-based products, such as machine oils and lubricants, cleaners and soap.
And a recycling company from Dallas picks up Styrofoam products with the price varying $50-$60, depending on amount collected and how many stops the company makes in the area, he said.
He doesnt make any money on recycling, he said, but the costs of the bins of adding a team member to his staff to oversee recycling preparations are worth the costs.
Most people choose not to just because its an extra cost just to say youre recycling. But its something we believe in, OByrne said.
Leading by example:
The decisions made by the visionaries have a ripple effect beginning with benefits to the company and going further to impact their communities and further. But its an effort OByrne wants more people to be a part of, including local and state government.
Theres nothing set up yet as for the city as far as business entities go," he said. "Unless theres an outside corporation thats already set up to recycle, smaller, privately-owned businesses probably arent recycling like they could.
The City of Shreveport supplies blue recycling bins for residential homes, but not businesses, he said.
Don O'Byrne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, shares his recycling methods and ideas to protect the environment and food sources. Tiana Kennell/The Times
Besides the saving the environment, recycling can benefit multiple parties, OByrne said. A city mandating recycling could make money by working with recycling companies and renting out receptacles to the businesses, he said. Also, recycling practices could make the city more marketable to companies and agencies considering coming to the area.
"It's a loophole that's just overlooked. If I wasn't in the taco business, I'd be in the recycling business because I believe there's a big opportunity for it here," he said. "It's already in place in most major cities and mandatory in some major cities, as well."
But these OByrne and some other local business leaders arent waiting for change from outside parties, they are taking it upon themselves to make the change.
Read or Share this story: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/dining/2017/03/09/turning-plastic-grease-and-beer-mash-into-cash/98706372/
Read more from the original source:
Turning plastic, grease and beer mash into cash - Shreveport Times
