“Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.”

- Anna Lappe

Sustainable food choices are very important to us here at Tang. 

Being aware of food sources, food miles, ethical food production and how this all links back to climate change may sound boring but is imperative to the decision making at Tang. Sometimes these choices can be complicated but we try to continually educate ourselves, reviewing our choices to make sure that we are using the best practices.

These are the areas that shape our procurement choices:

Organic:

Organic certification prohibits the use of genetically modified ingredients and means using goods that are sown and grown without pesticides and poisons, which makes an untold difference on biodiversity! We buy as much as we can from organic producers such as the McNally’s, a family run certified organic farm in North County Dublin.

Local:

Keeping food miles low, we have a seasonality chart that we try to adhere to rigorously, shaping our menus around what is being grown in Ireland as much as possible and we work closely with our other main veg supplier Caterway to this end.

However this can prove quite challenging, making the most delicious food possible is important to us and it’s pretty hard to to make a tasty hummus without further afield ingredients like lemons!

Ethically Raised Meat:

We are very much a vegetable focused cafe but we know that meat is non negotiable for many!

Supporting organic or free range farms such as Rings Organic Chicken Farm in Co. Kilkenny and Gubbeen Smokehouse in Co. Cork that adhere to the highest standards of animal welfare and sustainable farming allows us to provide the best quality meat available to our customers. The same applies to all of our Irish lamb sourced from FX Buckley butchers.

Organic Dairy and Eggs:

All our milk comes from Noel and his team at The Village Dairy Organic Dairy Farm in Co. Carlow and Syl keeps both our cafes stocked with organic eggs from his farm in North County Wicklow.

Minimal Packaging:

We try to purchase all dried grains, spices and nuts in bulk to eliminate unnecessary waste and reduce transportation needs and are working with all of our suppliers to eliminate all single use plastic from our supply chain and are pushing as many of them as possible to bring our deliveries in reusable containers.

Cleaning Products:

Many household cleaning agents contain harmful chemicals like ammonia, petroleum, and phosphorus. When using these cleaning products these chemicals are being sent back into the water supply and nearby rivers, streams, or lakes. This is a minefield but we have made the decision to switch to green cleaning products like Lily’s Eco Clean for our cleaning products and Archie & Izzy toilet paper which contain no harmful chemicals.