The word "chemurgy" was coined by chemist William J Hale and first publicized in his 1934 book The Farm Chemurgic. The Free Dictionary defines “chemurgy” as the development of new industrial chemical products from organic raw materials, especially from those of agricultural origin. During the depression the Farm Chemurgic Council, including members Henry Ford and George Washington Carver, was formed to encourage greater use of renewable raw materials in industry. As a result, Henry Ford introduced a prototype car that had a body made of soybean plastic, powered by ethanol, and ran on tires made from goldenrod in 1941!
As reported in Nation’s Restaurant News, we are seeing more and more foodservice operations turning to chemurgy to find earth-friendly products to run their businesses, such as Alan Wood, foodservice director for Aramark Business Services at the Environmental Protection Agency facility in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Alan is determined to keep increasing the use of compostable or biodegradable earth-friendly packaging, which is why he now purchases flatware and to-go containers made from sugar cane, corn-based drinking straws, and plates, bowls and cups made from potatoes and limestone. One can only hope that examples such as this one will become rare in the not too distant future as the hospitality industry tries to find its way to sustainability.
I encourage you all to look around your facility and into the curriculum to see where chemurgy can be taught to students or used to run your program. In the process we will learn to be more sustainable and bring those insights to our beloved industry that will soon, if not now, be in desperate need of our knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment