Minneapolis, chefs to challenge wisdom of bottled water

By PAUL WALSH

Last update: April 9, 2008 - 8:12 AM

Minneapolis city officials and leading restaurant chefs are combining forces today against bottled water.

A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Corner Table Restaurant at 43rd St. and Nicollet Avenue South in Minneapolis, where more will be said about the need to avoid buying bottled water.

Bottled water has been criticized for being too expensive -- more than a gallon of gasoline -- unfriendly to the environment and failing to outperform tap water for taste.

A national corporate accountability group called on Minnesotans last fall to pledge to boycott bottled water in favor of municipal water.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak endorsed the push, noting that his city's water often tops commercial bottled water in blind taste tests.

Jeremy Hanson, an aide to Rybak, said the mayor's office has stopped serving bottled water.

--Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482