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Not the same old drive-thru

The meat is raised naturally; the packaging is recycled; the ovens use renewable power. New green fast-food chains are serving up burgers and fries to feel good about.

1) KEEP IT LOCAL

In an Internet survey of more than 1,200 professional chefs conducted in October of last year by the National Restaurant Association, locally grown produce was voted No. 2 on a list of nearly 200 hot trends for 2008. Organic produce ranked third (bite-sized desserts led the list). These new fast-food places are clearly on to something.

Burgerville, a chain of 39 fast-food burger places in the U.S. Northwest, enjoys near-iconic status in the new fast-food market. Keeping it local has been the company's policy since the beginning. The first Burgerville opened in 1961, and Tom Mears, the son-in-law of founder George Propstra, is at the helm today.

The chain is renowned for its use of local produce, especially in its berry milkshakes. "We start early in the spring with California strawberries, then a few weeks later we move to berries from Oregon, then Washington state. When the Washington strawberries go away, we switch to raspberries, then blackberries. In the winter, we make shakes from hazelnuts, which are abundant around here," Mears says. Potatoes for Burgerville's french fries come from eastern Washington state and Idaho.

According to Mears, the berries led to an interest in Walla Walla onions, unique to the Northwest and available for just a few months each year. The chain uses them to make its famous onion rings. But when the season is over for Walla Walla onions, patrons are out of luck - the onion rings disappear from the menu. Loyal customers know the drill, but new customers often don't understand the seasonal nature of many of Burgerville's menu items. "We tell them to come back at the end of June for onion rings," says Mears, laughing.

Burgerville gets its meat from Country Natural Beef, a consortium of ranchers with 100 members located primarily in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and northern California, all of whom are committed to raising hormone-free cattle. "Our connection with Country Natural Beef came at just the right time for us, in the middle of the mad cow scare," Mears says.

Ranchers affiliated with Country Natural adhere to principles of sustainable agriculture, own and raise their cattle from birth and don't purchase cattle from other herds or ranches. Mears says knowing where Burgerville's beef comes from is a big draw for many customers, who may also know the Country Natural brand from shopping at Whole Foods grocery stores.

Deb Sellers, co-owner and co-founder of Sellers Markets in San Francisco, California, renowned for its "eco-friendly, straight-from-the-earth food," says using the same brands her customers purchase for their families is an asset to her business too. "We're a fast-casual place that supports local artisans who practise sustainable agriculture," Sellers says, noting that their market tables are made from trees that have fallen in San Francisco.

Cheeses used at Sellers Markets come from Cowgirl Creamery, a well-known local producer of artisan cheeses. Other purveyors include local favourites Boulangerie Bay Breads and Scharffen Berger Chocolate. Sellers Markets promotes the fact that its meat comes from Niman Ranch, which raises hormone- and antibiotic-free vegetarian cattle and pork. While Niman isn't strictly local, with participating ranchers in several states, it does adhere to sustainable ranching methods.

2) MAKE IT GOOD

"Let the real flavour sing," Deb Sellers says. She practises what she preaches at two Sellers Markets restaurants (a third is on the way): "This is not fine dining. It's a simple menu done well and fast and to order. Hot ham-and-cheese sandwiches made from the best cheese, bread and ham we can get. It's amazing how great that tastes. We keep the menu fresh and exciting by changing it." In the winter months, free-range turkey pot pie is a big seller. Not so in summer, when other seasonal items take its place.

Really good food is the selling point at Chipotle too. Spokesman Chris Arnold says the restaurants are usually categorized as fast food because the chain now includes 700 stores and the food ends up in a bag. "But that's where the similarity ends," says Arnold, whose title at Chipotle is "director of hoopla, hype and ballyhoo." Unlike Sellers, Arnold is quick to make a fine-dining connection. He explains that Ells, founder and CEO of Chipotle, attended the Culinary Institute of America and has taken his cues from fine dining. "That's the model he understood, and that's the model we adhere to," says Arnold.

In 2000, after seven years in business, Ells added another layer. While working to improve the quality of his carnitas, he visited some Niman Ranch hog farms in Iowa. In mainstream hog production, animals are confined to cages or crowded pens. Most don't even have room to turn around, and need antibiotics to stay healthy. At Niman, Ells encountered some happy anomalies: pastured, antibiotic-free animals that slept in deeply bedded barns.

After this revelation, Ells was determined to serve only naturally raised pork- "no antibiotics, no hormones and a vegetarian diet," says Arnold. It tastes better, he says. Pigs raised outdoors develop back fat to protect them from the elements, and it gives the meat nice marbling. Not like that dry 'other white meat' they sell at the supermarket."

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