This article was originally printed in “Who’s Your Farmer” a guide to eating locally in the Gorge, published by the Gorge 
Grown Grown Food Network.
Grown Grown Food Network.Google is committed to giving back and broadening our community outreach. We encourage green stewardship practices that support long-term well-being environmentally, economically and socially. With our office located in the agriculturally dense region as the Columbia Gorge, we hope to encourage additional promotion and use of sustainable local farming and business practices that foster biodiversity as well as promote the health of our community’s members.
As part of our efforts in this area, the Dalles data center has partnered with Bon Appetit and their Farm to Fork program. Our culinary team in The Dalles, led by Bon Appetit Chef Doug Rust, creates dozens of fresh recipes per week to feed the Googlers. “Bon Appetit always looks to primarily purchase seasonal and regional produce and organically raised meats from local farmers and ranchers within a 150 mile radius” says Doug. “Not only is local food more nutritious and tastes better, but it contributes to a lower carbon footprint. That is important to us. Currently, we work with a little more than half a dozen businesses locally and we are looking to expand our sourcing to even more local farmers and ranchers this year.”
To reduce our impact on landfill, biodegradable to-go containers and cutlery entirely made out of corn byproducts are offered for employees on the run. In addition, we’ve joined forces with Dirt Hugger, a local composting company that collects and processes yard waste, food scraps, orchard clearings, and the like, to create an organic nutrient rich soil additive that is re-utilized in local farms, gardens, and yards. The Dalles data center is currently part of a pre-consumer Dirt Hugger program, reducing our impact on landfill by several hundred pounds of waste a week. That number will grow significantly once our post-consumer program gains clearance in the near future.
We are proud to support sustainability along side great organizations such as the Gorge Grown Food Network. This is an area abundant with treasures, and I think we all can agree that there is much more value to a good meal than what meets the eye.
Photo courtesy of flickr user cheukiefu
2 Comments
Rinaajalach
I am interested in speaking with Pierce Lewis or Tyler Miller about your new business. I am a Plant Manager for Oregon Cherry Growers here in The Dalles. We have two wastewater treatment systems here that generate ~4000 tons per year of of biosolids generated from two industrial belt presses. We have a lab analysis of these biosolids and you may find that they would be a good fit for use into your composting mixture.You can reach me through my email or phone .ThanksMarty Hutchinson
Susan Place
Hello Marty,
I believe the persons you are referring to
are the operators of Dirt Hugger composting.
http://dirthugger.com/ Their contact info is on their website. They should be able to get you information about composting. Susan