Oracle Park Team Hits a Home Run for Food Recovery

Executive Sous Chef Joshua Saenz, Nonprofit Manager Laurel Caplan, Executive Chef of Concessions Toussaint Potter, and Gotham Club Food and Beverage Director Angela Denman

Bon Appétiters with their Food Recovery Verified sticker and meals ready to be picked up by Food Runners, left to right: Executive Sous Chef Joshua Saenz, Nonprofit Manager Laurel Caplan, Executive Chef of Concessions Toussaint Potter, and Gotham Club Food and Beverage Director Angela Denman

Bon Appétiters are committed to reducing their environmental impact and making a difference in the neighborhoods they serve. The team at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, is excited to do both — scoring a home run for sustainability and the local community!

After every home game at Oracle Park — all 80-plus of them — Executive Chef of Concessions Toussaint “Chef T” Potter and others safely package and store their excess edible food for donation to local hunger-fighting organizations. To make this possible, Bon Appétit teams around San Francisco partner with Food Runners, a San Francisco–based nonprofit that has been assisting those suffering from food insecurity (while alleviating food waste) since 2003.

Food Runners delivers to soup kitchens, low-income housing, local nonprofits, and more. “Having food donated to us not only feeds our clients and their children, but also lets them have dinner together, as some don’t have time to go home and cook and others don’t have enough money to make a meal,” says a representative from the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Survivor Restoration Program.

Food Runners volunteers

Food Runners volunteers relay food for over 20,000 meals in San Francisco each week

Since taking over all concessions at Oracle Park in 2018, the Bon Appétit culinary team has been able to give even more back to the Bay Area community while also keeping more food out of landfills. With all of these donations, Bon Appétit at Oracle Park was proud to become Food Recovery Verified in 2019.

Chef T was thrilled about the milestone: “This certification highlights our commitment and attention to reducing the amount of waste we create at the ballpark. We’re proud of our longstanding partnership with Food Runners and the fact that it allows us to help the environment and our local community. It feels like a win-win.”

Submitted by Laurel Caplan, Bon Appétit at Oracle Park Nonprofit Program Manager