Bon Appétit Management Company

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.

As the Midwest Fellow for Bon Appetit Management Company Foundation, I get to work with folks at BAMCO-operated colleges across the country, from my home in Minneapolis, MN, all the way south to Austin, TX; west to Denver, CO; and east to Cleveland, OH. Since much of my travel this semester happened to be all in a row (I’ll be with the American Meat screening tour, which BAMCO is cosponsoring, for much of its Colorado and Ohiolegs), I decided I’d set out on my own 10-week tour, henceforth dubbed Piper’s Epic Spring Semester Road Trip.

This Saturday, February 16, join thousands of “foodies,” “farmies,” and leaders in food and farming in watching the TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat conference. Bon Appétit is very honored that Maisie Greenawalt, our vice president of strategy, was selected to present. During the third session, Empower, which starts at 4pm EST, Maisie will speak frankly about “How the Humane Sausage Gets Made” — how a large corporation like Bon Appétit decides to tackle animal welfare issues, and what specific challenges we face in meeting our aggressive deadline of 2015 to end all purchases of pork raised without gestation crates.

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.

We’re pleased to be sponsoring the 10-state screening tour of American Meat, a new documentary that takes an evenhanded look at both the industrial and the pastoral sides of the U.S. meat system. This Thursday, February 5, at 6pm, Stanford University will show American Meat followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Graham, that includes Maisie Greenawalt, Vice President of Strategy for Bon Appétit Management Company

Since I first heard it was possible, it has been a dream of mine to own a car that runs on waste vegetable oil — burning a resource widely regarded as trash. Starting last summer, I was finally able to make that dream a reality.

This Thursday, February 7, Bon Appétit Management Company Vice President Maisie Greenawalt will participate in a Tweetchat* with the organizers of the upcoming TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat conference. Tune into Twitter between 4-4:30pm EST/1-1:30pm PST and follow the hashtag #TEDxMan.

Bon Appétit believes that making a difference in the lives of others—one that pays dividends long past the holiday season — is the best gift we can give. This year’s beneficiary is the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA).

The drought that struck the United States this year stunted growth of field corn and soy, and as a result, 2013 will be the first time in 38 years where annual beef, pork, and chicken output all decline. We need a resilient food system that can cope with a changing climate and unpredictable conditions such as this drought. How are we going to get there?

How Bon Appétit Management Company defines “food service for a sustainable future,” that tagline that follows our company name, also defines our very identity as a company. In honor of our quarter-century anniversary, we asked our employees and others to brainstorm with us. Here’s the result.