Biodynamic vs. Organic wines: Do you know the difference?

Last semester I took a wine course at the university, and throughout that time we had several speakers introduced to the class, and one was Brian Hamilton of Southbrook Vineyards from Niagara-on-the-lake. He spoke about biodynamic and organic practices at their vineyard, which led me to my interest in researching this topic a bit further. … Continue reading Biodynamic vs. Organic wines: Do you know the difference?

Julie Moroz

Hello everyone! My name is Julie Moroz and I am a 4th year student at the University of Guelph, majoring in Human Resources Management. I am the newest addition to the UGSRP team for Summer 2013. I will be working alongside Professor Bruce McAdams as an Undergraduate Research Assistant. Although majoring in HRM, I have … Continue reading Julie Moroz

Read all about it: UGSRP ‘Tipped Out?’ Forum a success!

This past Monday April 29th UGSRP held its ‘Tipped Out?’ forum at George Brown College in Toronto. Speakers at the event included academics, restaurateurs and a member of provincial parliament. The audience of industry members and students was treated to a two-hour passionate discussion about this very controversial subject. Here are some of the highlights. … Continue reading Read all about it: UGSRP ‘Tipped Out?’ Forum a success!

Pj’s achieves LEAF Certification!

Congratulations to Pj's restaurant for recently achieving Level Two Certification from LEAF. (Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice) http://leafme.ca/ LEAF is a non-profit third-party organization which offers certification for restaurants and food service facilities that meet and adhere to strict environmental criteria. LEAF helps restaurants reduce their environmental impact, and makes it easy for diners to identify green restaurants. … Continue reading Pj’s achieves LEAF Certification!

Social Innovation and the Sustainable Restaurant

Last semester a class of 4th year hospitality students at the University of Guelph were asked to come up with a socially innovative idea that related to hospitality. Working with a partner, the students were challenged to prove the feasibility of their idea and be prepared to present their work to their peers. Students found the work challenging and engaging. Not only were … Continue reading Social Innovation and the Sustainable Restaurant

Embracing Seasonality

In many ways Pj's Restaurant acts as UGSRP's home base. It is where the project started with the introduction of new sustainably focused curriculum for students taking our Restaurant Operations course. The leadership team at Pj's has embraced sustainability seeing the restaurant recognized as one of Canada's 'greenest' restaurants. http://leafme.ca/leaf-releases-latest-list-of-canadas-greenest-restaurants-in-honour-of-environment-week/ It's even a place where Mike, Simon and I will gather for … Continue reading Embracing Seasonality

Is innovation the key to restaurant sustainability?

In order to have a 'sustainable' restaurant industry we need to continue to innovate, create, and re-engineer most everything we do. Restaurants are not necessarily known for their innovative business practices. Many people point to the fact that most restaurants operate as SME's (Small and Medium Size Enterprises) which typically focus more on the day-to-day operations then pushing the innovation envelope. Even … Continue reading Is innovation the key to restaurant sustainability?

A big statement made at PJ’s restaurant!

PJ's Atrium Restaurant , the student run restaurant of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph has made a huge commitment with its dairy program. Years ago PJ's made the move away from 'individual' portioned cream and milk containers to using ceramic holding vessels, thereby saving a considerable amount of plastic waste to landfill. This past week, … Continue reading A big statement made at PJ’s restaurant!

UGSRP answering the bell!

Canada's 100 "Top Employers" list was released this week. http://www.canadastop100.com/national/ Unfortunately there was not a restaurant or food-service company to be found on this list. The following is the list of criteria the judges use to evaluate companies: "Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers using eight criteria, which have remained … Continue reading UGSRP answering the bell!