On the occasion of Sustainable Gastronomy Day, the Michelin guide awards green stars to reward restaurateurs committed to the preservation of nature.

Among the winners, Glenn Viel, chef four stars in the Michelin guide, including a green one. 

Four stars, one of which is green.

On the occasion of Sustainable Gastronomy Day, the Michelin guide awards green stars to reward committed restaurateurs.

Among them, Glenn Viel, chef of the restaurant l'Oustau de Baumanière, in Baux-de Provence.

But despite this new award, the chef assures us, running an establishment while thinking about the environment "involves nothing".

"It is something on which we do not force ourselves. We try every day to do better, to consume a little less", he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

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"We are moving in the right direction"

Concretely, Glenn Viel no longer throws any organic waste. "We have two pigs, and we give them the leftovers," he explains. But the restaurateur also has "nearly a hectare of vegetable garden, a hectare of wheat", fruit trees and even beehives. And if he admits that these harvests "do not represent much", he wants to be optimistic. "Each year we are better, we evolve in the right direction. But once again, we have a lot of work to do, it's far from easy." And if self-sufficiency is not an option, the leader believes that if he "grabs 0.3% independence every year, that's always the case".

A true lover of nature, Glenn Viel is committed to ecology out of conviction.

For him, "we have entered the fight of the century".

And when "[he] will have done his work in the kitchen, [he] will take a stronger commitment to ecology".

But in the meantime he continues to fight on a daily basis, to reduce his environmental footprint with his restaurant.

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Revive a vanished race

The fact remains that sustainable gastronomy is not limited to consuming less or consuming more locally, more sustainably. Some go much further and even try to revive extinct species. This is the case of Guillaume Foucault, the 

chef

 of the starred restaurant Pertica, in Vendôme, who set himself the goal of saving a species of cow, which was still called the Percheronne a few decades ago. "This cow which inhabited our territories disappeared at a time when there was a selection scheme with very different interests from those of today", he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

Armed with old postcards and archives that describe the Percheronne, Guillaume Foucault selected the cattle closest to the breed physically and made them mate while feeding them apples and pears from local varieties. And with each new generation, the genetic code gets closer to the extinct breed. An approach rewarded by the new green star awarded by the Michelin guide. And the criteria can "range from the enhancement of the territory of restaurateurs, their fishermen, market gardeners, breeders. And it is also an opportunity to put forward these discoveries or these rediscoveries of an agricultural heritage.

In addition to this distinction, it is now a label that chef Guillaume Foucault is aiming for, an AOP, or even official breed recognition. The showcase of a region that could even boost tourism, like the famous Aubrac cow.