Bon Appétit Management Company

If college students are going to cook, they need it to be simple, affordable, and efficient. And Bon Appétit’s Executive Sous Chef at Reed College, Jenny Nguyen, came up with a great idea for a cooking class that would achieve just that — with a healthful and easy twist on making top ramen, the quintessential college student’s meal.

In the United States, 40% of food goes uneaten. Just so we’re clear, that’s nearly half. Yet one in every six Americans lacks a secure supply of food. Waste is happening at every part of the supply chain: thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables are being left in the fields to rot, blemished produce are being tossed at our supermarkets, restaurants are dumping perfectly good leftovers, and consumers are letting food waste away in their refrigerators. Clearly, we have a problem.

Employees at Target City Center in Minneapolis, MN, are spoiled when it comes to access to fresh produce. The Nicollet Mall farmers’ market sets up right outside the front door, and they can join the Hay River Farm CSA that’s exclusively for Target employees.

Earlier this month, Macalester College became the tenth school in the country — and the second Bon Appétit education client — to sign a Real Food Campus Commitment. The commitment, which was developed by the student-led nonprofit group Real Food Challenge, is a pledge that commits school administrators to formally prioritizing real food* through increasing procurement of such food as well as community engagement and transparency around food issues.

Food Day is an annual nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainable food, and a movement to create more of it. This Thursday, October 24, Bon Appétit locations all across America will proudly celebrate Food Day and its five principles. We’re encouraging our guests to get involved by growing some of their own food, and if they’re students, encouraging them to join Campus Farmers!

School is back in session, and the Daily Meal just wrapped up a summer-long research project — a hunt for the best college food in the country. The team examined the dining programs at every four-year college in America — more than 2,000 of them. Nine Bon Appétit schools made the resulting list of 52!

I had believed that social change came from the world of nonprofits. How could do-gooders both stay true to their vision and make money? Didn’t that take grants and volunteers and 501c3 status? It was exciting to see true sustainability at work: a for-profit business model that was also loyal to a socially responsible mission. From then on, I knew I wanted to work for Bon Appétit.

Making healthy choices often seems tough for college students. Between social activities, doing homework, and participating in extracurricular, personal well-being can often take a back seat. But Bon Appétit makes the healthy choice the easy, default choice in the dining hall and we were recently recognized for our efforts.

This summer, Bon Appétit chefs gathered around the country to learn the ins and outs of cooking authentic Indian cuisine. At Emmanuel College in Boston, I joined a group of New England chefs attending the culinary training, titled “Flavors from the Turmeric Trail” and given by Raghavan Iyer, a native of Mumbai and a celebrated chef, author, and teacher.

When it comes to food, students know what they like – and what they don’t. Long gone are the times where students would eat mystery meat, things covered in gravy, and canned vegetables. Thanks to Bon Appétit, they don’t have to.