Just over two decades ago, Bon Appétit Management Company began our annual tradition of challenging our chefs to cook an entire meal made exclusively with ingredients grown within 150 miles of their café. The rules are simple: All elements of the meal must be grown, harvested, milled, raised, or produced locally — the only exception is salt.
Serving up Soil Superheroes for Earth Day
This year’s Earth Day celebration highlighted the importance of soil health for food production and the environment, giving our chefs the chance to “dig in” to our year-round commitment to support a more sustainable food system.
Farm to Fork Profile: A Vision for the Future of Regenerative Agriculture at Tree-Range Farms
Salvatierra Farms is alive with flocks of pasture-raised chickens, native trees, and crops. A group of 15 students, staff, and Bon Appétit chefs from St. Olaf College and Carleton College, where Salvatierra is a Farm to Fork partner, recently had the privilege of learning from Regi’s unique approach to agriculture (and life itself!).
A Fervent Farewell to the Bon Appétit Fellowship
After five semesters as the Midwest Fellow, I’ve had countless opportunities to engage with food systems in creative ways. These experiences have instilled a deeper understanding of the realities of food service and sustainability at large. This broadened perspective has added nuance to my food systems experience, and kept me continually inspired by passionate students, chefs, and farmers that I’ve had the pleasure to work with and learn from.
New Approaches to Old Problems: Innovative Initiatives to Fight Campus Food Insecurity
Bon Appétit teams have long sought to support our college campuses in their efforts to address student food insecurity in inventive ways. From food pantries and swipe donation programs to food co-ops and food recovery, there are many encouraging examples of how our teams are working with their campus communities to confront a complex and pervasive, yet often invisible hardship.
Pickling in Paradise on The Farm at Butler
Tucked away on the edge of campus, over a bridge and beside the athletic fields, lies The Farm at Butler, a gem within Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. Just shy of one acre, this agricultural oasis is a clear example of how urban farming can transform previously dormant land into a thriving ecosystem and classroom.
Campus Farms Provide More Than Produce to School Communities
Twenty DePauw University first-years are spending the morning at the Ullem Campus Farm in Greencastle, IN. Rather than sitting in a classroom, they are outside enjoying the first wisps of fall, bringing shovels down into the rich soil to unearth the starchy golden gems below.
It’s a Plant-Based Party! Fellows Bring Vegetable Inspiration to College Residence Hall Kitchens
Across the country, Bon Appétit teams have been hard at work paving the way for a plant-forward revolution. The Bon Appétit Fellows have embarked on a similar mission to spread inspiration and knowledge about how to cook with vegetables through a series of plant-based cooking demonstrations for college students.
Pigs Over Profit at Gunthorp Farms: Purchasing Pasture-Raised Meat at Trine University
Unlike most farm animals raised in the U.S., Greg Gunthorp’s turkeys, pigs, ducks, and sheep will never know the inside of an industrial livestock house. Instead, they spend their days outside on pasture, running amongst the trees in the rolling hills of Northeast Indiana.
Victories with Vegetables: A Plant-Based Cooking Demo at Emory University
Standing in front of a group of eager and talented cooking class participants in the Few Demo Kitchen at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of gratitude and familiarity. Back when I was a student at Emory a few short years ago, cooking demos with Slow Food Emory were one of the highlights of each semester, igniting the spark that led to a deep-seated love of talking and teaching about food.