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Leading the Movement to Eliminate Plastic Straws in DC

Farmers Restaurant Group, the parent company for Farmers Fishers Bakers, has launched a campaign across the DC metro region to eliminate plastic straws in the hospitality industry and beyond.

As restaurateurs and major distributors of straws, we are leading the charge for change in our country’s capital and working to make a difference, one straw at a time. Eliminating plastic straws is one step in working to solve the single-use plastics problem across the globe.

Our Last Straw is a non-profit organization focused on educating our communities and building a coalition of restaurants, bars, cafes, and hotels all working on this shared mission.

At Farmers Fishers Bakers, we have already made the switch from compostable to paper straws (and sometimes we use hay straws too). As a waterfront restaurant on the shores of the Potomac, it feels doubly important to make sure we aren’t contributing plastic straws to the DC waterways. Nearly 7.5 million plastic straws were found on U.S. shorelines during a five-year cleanup research project. In addition, approximately 8.8 million tons of plastic pollution flows into the oceans each year an amount expected to double by 2025. By 2050, plastic trash will outweigh fish in the world’s oceans.

Our Last Straw has a growing list of partners including our sibling restaurants, Founding Farmers and Farmers & Distillers, other restaurateurs across the area, NGOs, and local government agencies.

Information about joining the coalition is available on the Our Last Straw website, as well as a way for individuals to make a personal pledge to #StopSucking and say no to the straw altogether next time a drink is ordered. Our Last Straw can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter.