When we talk about traveling better, we often think about the means of transportation, more and more about lodging, a little bit about activities to do on the spot but never about food. However, we eat an average of 3 meals a day, it occupies a large part of our time.
Vacation rentals
Like at home
If you prefer to rent accommodation during this period, it is very likely that you will eat lunch or dinner regularly on site. In this case, for those who have already started a responsible approach towards organic, zero waste and/or zero waste, we can only encourage you to continue in this direction during your vacations. We must not lose our habits at that time. Indeed if you are like me, with the return blues, the temptation will be all the greater to continue on the wrong path.
For those of you who haven't started yet, why not take advantage of this period to get started. It's no longer a rush after work, we are generally more relaxed (...) so it's a good time. Our advice: choose just one action (so as not to put pressure on yourself again, it's the holidays!) and implement it: eat locally and/or organically, limit packaging, put an end to waste... In short, the one that matters most to you and go for it!
It is also the ideal time to wander around the markets and discover local products and gastronomy. It’s much more fun than queuing at the supermarket like at home.
Why not take advantage of a holiday in the rain to get behind the stove and cook local products?
Ethik Hotels
And if you rent an accommodation in an Ethik Hotels some of them have vegetable gardens available for holidaymakers. A great opportunity to rediscover the taste of vegetables from the garden if like us you are not lucky enough to have a vegetable garden at home. I’m thinking particularly of the Camping du Brevedent, le Hameau du Sentier des Sources or the Mas de Saribou, but I’m sure there are many others.
The restaurant
For those who are hotel lovers, restaurants will become their new canteens. And even if you have opted for the solution of renting it is rare not to have “a little restaurant evening” from time to time. Moreover during this period, 60% of French people go to the restaurant 1 to 2 times a week. 17% once a day or almost.
But then how to choose it well? If you are here, on our site, it is because you are already part of the people who travel more responsible or at least who have decided to do so. It would be a pity not to push the reasoning to the restaurant because :
- More than 10 billion meals are consumed outside the home each year in France (IRI – Gira/Ecotable)
- 14% of food waste is related to the restaurant sector (source Ademe/Ecotable)
- An out-of-home meal would emit nearly twice as many emissions as a meal at home (source “L’empreinte énergétique et carbone de l’alimentation en France”, Club Ingénierie Prospective Energie et Environnement, Paris, IDDRI, 24p. January 2019)
Once you have drawn the conclusion, two solutions are available to you to find the restaurant that is both good and committed during your vacations.
Ethik Hotels
If you live in one of the Ethik Hotels listed on our site I am sure they will be able to advise you on restaurants in the area, being in the same approach as them. Indeed they are people in love with their region and who know their territory well. Their will is precisely to put forward its richness, its originality and that also passes by the gastronomy.
By the way this summer Les Terres de Baronnies, in addition to their precious advice for visits gave us very good addresses nearby! I am also thinking of Babel Guesthouse who advised us the Marum, a restaurant which trains students in the restaurant business.
And don’t forget that many of them also have a restaurant where some of the products on offer come from their own crops.
Ecotable
Ecotable is a label that selects and promotes restaurants with eco-friendly practices. It is not limited to the content of the plate but takes into account the overall approach of the restaurant owner. I discovered it very recently thanks to social networks. I immediately embraced the concept. We have a somewhat similar approach with clearly identifiable criteria. Very naturally, I thought it might interest the Explor’Actors that you are.
This label was born in 2017 from the will of 3 friends. There are 3 levels of eco-responsibility highlighted with the award of one, two or three buttons.
For level 1, the criteria to be met are
- 15% of products are organic, local or supplied via the short circuit
- The menu changes according to the seasons
- There is at least one vegetarian dish à la carte
- Selective sorting is systematic
- No eggs come from caged hens
And obviously to get to the next levels requires an even more advanced approach with higher entry criteria. I invite you to discover it on their site.
You have to tell yourself? Nice job, they spend their life at the restaurant to find nuggets. Yes (the lucky ones) but not that … As said before it must be part of a comprehensive approach. To validate this point that a solution : peel all the bills of the previous month. The idea is to apprehend the supply, recycling and waste policies of the restaurant owner. And also to get to know his suppliers and his health commitments, understand his communication, immerse himself in the menus. Finally they want to discover the methods put in place for the maintenance of the premises. And it is only as a result of this in-depth study that the restaurant was awarded the precious sesame.
It doesn’t stop there. In order to assist establishments in their transition or to obtain higher levels, Ecotable has a directory of service providers (local fruit and vegetable producers, meat and fish suppliers…). This helps to compensate for the lack of time restaurant owners have to find the right supplier.
The label already references 70 addresses, in France only for the moment. Let’s bet that they will develop as well in France as outside our borders to restore us Ethik during our vacations.
Besides, why wait for the vacations? If you live next to one of these responsible tables, why not go and discover it. For us, it’s planned the day after tomorrow, we have a big pleasure but I can’t wait to be there. I’ll tell you about it in a story on the Instagram account, I promise.
Do you know of equivalent labels in the rest of the world? If you do, don’t hesitate to let me know. I will compile them and make them available to all the Explor’Actors.
And how do you manage to eat responsibly during your vacations? Do you have other ideas to share with us?
To conclude, we wish you bon appétit of course ?
Sources :Photo de August de Richelieu provenant de PexelsPhoto de cottonbro provenant de Pexels
