WHETHER IT’S a vegetarian-only menu, stocking the biggest range of real ales, using only local or organic ingredients in the food, offering space for local community groups, or doing a bit of all of these, almost 50 of the capital’s pubs are battling it out to become the greenest.
The new competition is being run by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and Jellied Eel magazine in a bid to showcase sustainability in the pub trade.
Kelly Parsons from Jellied Eel magazine said two pubs a week are currently closing in the capital, many of them to be turned into small supermarkets or blocks of flats.
“This competition can play an important role in the battle to save our best boozers, by making sure those watering-holes that are pushing themselves on the sustainability-front get the recognition they deserve,” she added.
Voting closes on June 17th, after which those with the most votes will go to a panel of expert judges who will look at the pubs’ ethical credentials to decide the winner.
This week the winners of the Footprint Awards 2013 will be unveiled. This year’s “Community Vote”, sponsored by Reynolds, has had a particularly high number of entries from the pub trade.