Woodland Park Zoo and Levy Restaurants Lead in Sustainable Concessions

Posted by Megan Schenck, Resource Conservation & Sustainability Manager and Hallie Sykes, Graduate Student, Advanced Inquiry Program, Miami University

Woodland Park Zoo’s commitment to sustainability and wildlife conservation is shared by concessions vendor, Levy Restaurants, our food service provider for zoo restaurants and catering. In the past two years, Director of Operations David Vangelder and Executive Chef, Antonio Sotelo have pushed sustainable practices in the Woodland Park Zoo kitchen and are now leading the charge at Levy nationwide.

Chef Antonio Sotelo at 1899 Grove Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Vangelder and chef Sotelo are going the extra mile to source local products, offer a robust plant-based menu and reduce waste while giving back to the local community. Levy’s concessions at Woodland Park Zoo are prioritizing food that nourishes hungry visitors and the planet. The zoo and aquarium industry across the U.S. has a tremendous opportunity to join in sustainable food practices—with over 235 zoos and aquariums serving over 20 million annual visitors annually! We’re proud to serve sustainable food options in the name of wildlife conservation. Read on to see how it’s done here at Woodland Park Zoo—Antonio and David are just getting started, with several new ambitious initiatives coming soon. 

Eat the rainbow! A beautiful winter salad from the team at 1899 Grove. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Consumption at a cost

Food choices at home and on the go can make a big difference for the wellbeing of the animals we coexist with. When visiting zoo exhibits, such as the Tropical Rain Forest, you’ll discover that the habitat destruction impacting wild animals is often driven by the desire for short-term economic profits. For example, jaguars in the Amazon Rainforest in South America are losing their habitat due to logging, agriculture use and cattle ranching. The jaguars are not alone; deforestation disrupts the habitats of countless species globally, since farming contributes to the tree cover loss of five million hectares annually across the world.

Bringing it closer to home, the U.S. food production system utilizes approximately 50% of the nation's land area, 80% of its fresh water and about 17% of the country's fossil energy. Not only are greenhouse gases emitted through the energy to produce this food, but through the food itself! Food rotting and cows release methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, contributing to our warming climate. Cows release this potent greenhouse gas through their burps due to their high fiber diet. This makes them one of the least environmentally friendly protein sources.

Thankfully for hungry guests at Woodland Park Zoo, there are more environmentally friendly options on the menu. 

Woodland Park Zoo Sustainability Manager Megan Schenck and Exhibits Director John Borgmeyer enjoy a delicious lunch at 1899 Grove. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Concessions ahead of the curve

Antonio, David and the Levy staff have aligned around several ambitious efforts that save resources and reduce the impact of food served to zoo guests. Megan Schenck, Woodland Park Zoo’s Sustainability Manager, sat down and interviewed David and Chef Antonio to learn more about their story. It started when Chef Antonio and David shared a learning experience.

Representing Levy concessions at Woodland Park Zoo, Chef Antonio and David attended a Cultural Attractions Summit in 2023 where they met with an inspiring leader, Mary McCarthy, Vice President of Sustainability at Levy. “Mary gave a very passionate and educational presentation on sourcing sustainable food which I think affected every single person in the room dramatically,” said David VanGelder. They knew the community of Seattle would be receptive to sustainability; on their travels home, Antonio and David made plans for what they intended to do at Woodland Park Zoo. “In the end, most folks are not going to accept a 100% plant- based diet, but we're trying to skew that number,” said David. “I believe we're in a good area for environmental consciousness.”

Chef Antonio and Concert Manager Romy Brock. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo 

Chef Antonio serves up a yummy snack for Concert Manager Romy Brock. All ingredients are sourced from local, responsible PNW partners such as Rebellyous Foods, Double R Ranch, and Draper Valley. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Chef Antonio began crafting a menu with an emphasis on plant-based eating. He created two veggie burger options, a delicious chickpea cauliflower taco, and a grab-and-go market which is 100% veggie friendly. “For every hamburger, we have two vegan and vegetarian sandwich options,” explained Antonio.

Try a veggie burger on your next zoo visit; each veggie burger that is ordered in replacement of a traditional beef burger can...

• Reduce 98% of the land required,
• Avoid 93% of the greenhouse gas emissions,
• Conserve 500 gallons of water

Based on a water footprint calculator, we anticipate that every year, 3 million gallons of water are saved because of the 6,000 customers who chose veggie burgers instead of beef. That’s a lot of water that can remain in the natural ecosystem for wildlife and ecological systems to thrive!

Chef Antonio tracks waste to streamline sustainable efforts. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

However, if you are eating one of the zoo’s beef burgers, you can rest assured knowing it was sourced locally in Washington state. All items on the Woodland Park Zoo menu are sourced from “one truck away,” meaning the environmental impact is limited and this practice supports our local farmers. David and Chef Antonio worked hard to source top notch, local ingredients for their seasonal, rotating menu. The newest climate-friendly menu item: vegan nuggets sourced from West Seattle.

A sampling of weekly specials available at 1899 Grove: Chicken Gyro Plate with pilaf, Greek salad, hummus and grilled pita. Greek Salmon with spanakorizo and garlicky broccollini. Giant cookie! Grilled Jamaican Jerk Pork Chop with mango salsa and cilantro lime rice. Photo courtesy of Levy.

The new vegan nuggets offer a plant-based alternative to the immensely popular chicken strips, which are ordered 40,000 times each year at 1899 Grove. On a September Saturday in 2024, zoo guests got a chance to taste the vegan nuggets recently added to the menu, sourced from a local Seattle company called Rebellyous Foods. Reacting with thumbs up and smiles of approval, at least 70% of folks (including kids of all ages) were pleased with the taste and texture. As a result, 17 orders of vegan nuggets were placed that day! If vegan nuggets replace a portion of the annual chicken strip orders, we can reduce our impact on depleting natural resources.

Sustainability Manager Megan and AIP Graduate Student Hallie Sykes conducted a vegan nugget outreach day offering samples to guests at the zoo. Photo courtesy of Megan Schnek

The warm glow of 1899 Grove during WildLanterns. The solar panels aren’t the only sustainable thing about the 1899 Grove Marketplace! Woodland Park Zoo’s award-winning sustainability efforts are a testament to Seattle's national green leadership. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

How does this connect to wildlife?

Reducing the land and resources we use for food has a direct impact on wildlife and biodiversity. Eating plant-based, even once a week, and being mindful of what we can consume, we can have a positive impact on the planet. Increased demand for plant-based alternatives can:

1. Reduce deforestation 
2. Help preserve biodiversity 
3. Use fewer natural resources 
4. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 

What does this mean? Saving land and water equals saving habitats! With a wildlife-friendly diet, we can have more land growing milkweed for monarch butterfly migration, more water left in the streams for salmon and less greenhouse gas emissions warming our planet. Everyone can make a difference through the choices we make every day.

Action: Try incorporating plant-based eating into your diet

You can do your part by eating fewer animal products. Whether it's for one week or one meal, this small choice can make a big difference for wildlife! Next time you’re at the zoo, try one of the many plant-based options such as a veggie burger, vegan nuggets or chickpea cauliflower taco! You’ll feel good knowing your plant-based meal has less impact on the planet and wildlife—and we’d love to hear what you think!

Cheers! Pick your beverage and know that hot or iced, refreshing or sweet—it’s a sustainable cup at Woodland Park Zoo! Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Resources:

• Kremen, C., & Merenlender, A. M. (2018). Landscapes that work for biodiversity and people. Science, 362(6412), eaau6020.
• Pimentel, D., & Pimentel, M. (2003). Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 78(3), 660S-663S.