Lisa Ronquillo, marketing manager of the Bistro Group of Restaurants (BGR) is candid, not wanting to play with words. “(BGR’s) going green efforts are not yet as extensive as (those of) big companies,” she says, “but we are approaching this stage by stage, in whatever ways we can.”

And a stage that they found they can be most effective at is in partnering with environmental advocate group Greenpeace International in serving only GMO (or genetically-modified organisms) free rice, with the I Love My Rice GMO-Free campaign.

"It is our responsibility to make sure that we serve only naturally grown and safe rice," Ronquillo says, adding that BGR’s decision to participate in this endeavour “was made in response to the growing global concern. BGR recognizes the importance of protecting the country's rice supply from GMO contamination, and is proud to be the first to sign onto such a project.”

On GMO
With GMOs, the DNA of living organism, including plants and animals, are altered through genetic engineering techniques for them to acquire traits that they did not naturally have rice plants, for example, can be genetically modified to improve their nutritional value, make them resistant to pests, and lengthen their shelf life, among others.

But Greenpeace says GMOs pose risks to the health of those using them, and of the environment. “Genetic manipulation is an imprecise and risky process. Aside from the fact that the resulting genetically modified organisms would never occur in the natural world, the new organism created is a living experiment its long term effects on the environment, on soil, and on biodiversity, are unknown,” the group states.

For Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia genetic engineering campaigner, the campaign goes beyond merely “informing the public of the need to keep rice GMO-free.” "(It) also serves to assure consumers that the rice they are eating is free from these risky organisms which pose serious threats to biodiversity, farmers' livelihoods and human health," he said, as Greenpeace adds that “GMO food crops also pose risks to health, (with) no long term health studies ever been conducted (on GMOs). And because these crops are controlled by giant seed companies, they threaten the livelihood of farmers whose crops are in danger of being contaminated by GMO varieties.”

While GMOs have yet to make their presence felt in the Philippines, Ocampo believes the threat is real, nonetheless, making campaigning about it this early a good move – same with partnering with food industry players to “have environment-friendly practices.”

Bigger Plans
BGR isn’t stopping with the I Love My Rice GMO-Free campaign, however, as it already has moves to “educate our employees through seminars and ‘green talks’ (conducted from) time to time for increased awareness and application (of going green) in their personal lives. It is more of a responsibility to the employees and to our customers to help create a green behaviour,” Ronquillo says.

And then there are the “small efforts” to green the business, from using biodegradable bathroom and kitchen tissues in all BGR restaurants;  using “HALO” sugar substitute, an organic product, as an ingredient; and the move to make packaging biodegradable.

“(BGR has yet to) really measure cost benefits, (but) companies should consider turning green because this is a problem that concerns the universe, and each and every person (and the company he/she works for) has the network, the power to influence (ecological preservation) in a bigger scale,” Ronquillo says.

BGR operates international casual dining restaurant brands, including TGI Friday’s, Italianni’s, Fish & Co., and, recently, its local concept Flapjacks. It has a total of 29 restaurants nationwide.