A restaurant that will change the world?
Posted on Jul 1st, 2008
by 
barefootgirl
barefootgirl
So, to those who know me, I have a thousand dreams. I want to attend law school and get a degree in Human Rights/ Social Justice Law to better serve marginalized, under-represented people of the world (especially those in the queer community). I also want to write plays in my spare time that will inspire a call to act on pressing issues (genocide, discrimination, etc.), and direct inspiring plays in my spare time.
And, I realize that I haven't let my Gaia friends know about this restaurant dream of mine. I want to start a "Food for All" program, which will be a restaurant system designed specifically to give people with complicated dietary restrictions (vegetarians, vegans,diabetics, lactose-intolerant people, people with food allergies, and any others I might be forgetting at the moment) much larger menu options to choose from.
Let's take my family for instance. I'm a vegetarian who refuses to eat anything with hydrogenated oils, my sister is allergic to many fruits and vegetables, my stepmom is lactose-intolerant and allergic to wheat, and my dad can't eat much red meat or grapefruits. As you can imagine, it's VERY difficult finding a resturant that we can all be happy eating at.
This is why I want to start a restaurant program that will feature a certain variety of foods for all people to choose from. If any restaurant meets the requirements, they can call themselves part of the "Food for All" program. This will benefit the restaurants themselves, and will definitely benefits others too.
Also, for the original restaurant I plan on creating (I want my own restaurant to be pirate themed, but I'll explain that in another blog sometime), a small percentage of the profits would go towards ending world hunger. I'd also give my customers an option to round up their bill to make a small donation to ending hunger as well. :)
So! There we have it! True to the Gaian spirit, here's a plan to implement conscious capitalism to resturants world-wide. Do any of you know of any similar programs? Is there anything like this already happening? I would love to know, thanks!
Take care everyone. Have a great day.
~Jenna
And, I realize that I haven't let my Gaia friends know about this restaurant dream of mine. I want to start a "Food for All" program, which will be a restaurant system designed specifically to give people with complicated dietary restrictions (vegetarians, vegans,diabetics, lactose-intolerant people, people with food allergies, and any others I might be forgetting at the moment) much larger menu options to choose from.
Let's take my family for instance. I'm a vegetarian who refuses to eat anything with hydrogenated oils, my sister is allergic to many fruits and vegetables, my stepmom is lactose-intolerant and allergic to wheat, and my dad can't eat much red meat or grapefruits. As you can imagine, it's VERY difficult finding a resturant that we can all be happy eating at.
This is why I want to start a restaurant program that will feature a certain variety of foods for all people to choose from. If any restaurant meets the requirements, they can call themselves part of the "Food for All" program. This will benefit the restaurants themselves, and will definitely benefits others too.
Also, for the original restaurant I plan on creating (I want my own restaurant to be pirate themed, but I'll explain that in another blog sometime), a small percentage of the profits would go towards ending world hunger. I'd also give my customers an option to round up their bill to make a small donation to ending hunger as well. :)
So! There we have it! True to the Gaian spirit, here's a plan to implement conscious capitalism to resturants world-wide. Do any of you know of any similar programs? Is there anything like this already happening? I would love to know, thanks!
Take care everyone. Have a great day.
~Jenna
Access: PublicTagged with: food, dreams, poverty, hunger, restaurant, conscious capitalism, goal, dietary restrictions, people, change
change
July 2008 
thanks for sharing your dream with us! good luck.
speaking of conscious capitalism, you might want to check out http://www.flowidealism.org
take care and godspeed.
~C
Thank you for your wishes and for recommending that link! What a great website: I just became a member. :)
Thank you, and take care.
Peace,
Jenna
Great restaurant concept! I wish you the best of luck in realizing your dream
Thanks, Adam! I only wish, though, that it would be easier coming up with a larger, inclusive menu while still being close to zero-waste. I'll figure out a balance one of these days.
And Happy 4th of July! :)
Have you heard of the 25cents project… its where every transaction in the world is added 25 cents that will generate funds to finance this great ladies mission…
www.bluewater.gaia.com
I think the restaurant idea is great… but i still prefer to eat at home… maybe we are lazy here in the developing countires and work less - so we have the time to do the cooking and to wash the utencils etc…. i do understand what you mean…. i wanted to great a label on every edible - the stamp of the “Swaminarayan approved”. We have strict religious laws like we cannot east garlic or onioins or eggs or meat… even medicine that has these things are forbidden… so with this stamp… i wanted to make a body that would make it easy for our followers to stick to products that had this label - in the process - they get to abide by the laws…. may be if it is meant to be… we can all meet together and cook something …. i await for that day…
{wearing my apron and my chefs hat…:-}
No, I hadn't heard of the 25 cents project until now, thanks for letting me know about it! And yes, Bluewater's mission is beautiful.
And yes, having labels on foods is incredibly important, so you can have an easier time knowing what to eat and what not to eat. In restaurants, that's often impossible. So my idea was to give labels like this to make people's lives easier. We'll see how my restaurant goes. I won't be able to start it until at least a few years from now, after I attend grad school, but I should start it one of these days. :)
And thank you, as always, for your comments.
Have a relaxing weekend,
Jenna