Bon Appétit Management Company

Three years ago, I was getting ready to graduate from college with a major in anthropology, which everyone swore was a death sentence for a job search.

I remember clearly the serendipitous meeting that landed me with the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation. Through a series of extremely random events, I attended a presentation by Bon Appétit CEO and founder Fedele Bauccio, Vice President Maisie Greenawalt, and Foundation Director Helene York. In that one hour, I learned more about the problems of our food system than I had in my entire college career — and that’s despite the fact that I had long been interested in sustainability issues and had even spent time living with organic coffee farmers in Mexico. These three corporate executives talked about things like rBGH, reduced antibiotics in animal husbandry, and sustainable seafood [BAP1] — some issues I had never even heard of. I was blown away.

Lower sodium (but keep the flavor) this June with this classic Hungarian dish that contains so much paprika flavor that you won’t even miss the salt. To reduce saturated fat content, remove the chicken skin prior to serving.

Summer is almost here and that means one thing: it’s time to move cooking outdoors. Grilling is a great way to infuse flavor into food while keeping your house cool. Burgers are the iconic grill food, but some of our local Bay Area chefs are getting much more creative and grilling everything from fruit to lettuce!

A blend of Scandinavian and Mediterranean flavors, this rice pudding is delicious warm and even better cold, as the flavors have time to meld. So delicious and easy that completing this month’s Well Being Challenge will be no problem! Brown rice may be used, but will result in a chewier texture.

By using vinegar as a pickling agent, the sodium content is dramatically lower than a typical pickle. Refrigerator pickles require no canning, are ready to eat in two days, and last up to two weeks. Try them this June to celebrate the theme of lower sodium – keep the flavor, lose the salt.

Bon Appétit Management Company CEO Fedele Bauccio is proud to be among the 70 leading chefs, authors, food policy experts, nutritionists, CEOs, and environment and health organizations that have today sent an open letter to Congress urging lawmakers to revise the draft of the 2012 Farm Bill — which should more properly called the Food Bill, as it is the largest and most significant piece of legislation affecting what, how, and even whether Americans eat.

On a visit to Colorado College, I was sitting in the student center, working on some things while enjoying the atmosphere of being on a college campus, when Executive Sous Chef John E. Faulkner sat down next to me. John has been with Bon Appétit for more than 15 years. I wish I’d had a video camera running. Instead, these notes will have to try to convey the spirit of the man who claimed “I am Bon Appétit!”

I was surprised and disheartened to read comments by Thomas Keller in the New York Times that chefs’ only responsibility is to taste. “Is global food policy truly our responsibility, or in our control?” Keller asks. “I don’t think so.” I disagree, as do many others, and I am hoping that Keller’s statements were taken out of context. Chefs have an enormous power to make a difference, and they can do so without sacrificing flavor.

We serve great food, and the story behind that food has as much to do with the people cooking and serving it as it does the farmers who grew it.

To galvanize the U.S. government to set labeling and inspection standards, Oceana has launched a Stop Seafood Fraud campaign with a letter for chefs and restaurant owners to sign, asking for stricter seafood regulations. The letter was unveiled Monday, May 14, in Washington, DC, in an event featuring “The Office” star Angela Kinsey, a seafood advocate, and renowned sustainable seafood chef Barton Seaver. Oceana reached out to Bon Appétit to ask for our support, and we’re proud that about 20% of the names on Oceana’s list of 300 chefs and restaurant owners are Bon Appétit Management Company ones, alongside such culinary leaders as Rick Bayless, Eric Ripert and Michael Symon.