After baking fresh pastries and breads for a recent 200-person breakfast, Jenny Elmes, owner of Full Circle Catering in Lexington, was left with only one item of garbage. “I was so excited that day,” she says. “That is what we are all about.”

     In an industry known for waste, Elmes is able to drastically reduce trash by composting, recycling, and using no Styrofoam. This is what makes Full Circle one of only six caterers worldwide to be recognized by the Green Restaurant Association, a not-for-profit organization that adheres to strict standards for its certification.

     Alongside her home and commercial kitchen in an old Virginia farmhouse on North Buffalo Creek, Elmes grows herbs and edible flowers, which she uses—along with other locally produced foods from farmers’ markets—on her menus.

     She hopes her extra efforts will come full circle, for her clients and for her 12-year-old son. “I want to leave a legacy for him,” she says. “Someday I’ll see how the things I do have become his practices.” 

—Angel Sands Gunn