Bon Appétit Management Company

This month’s Well Being Challenge encourages you to choose a healthy meal that also meets a low carbon principle for at least one meal each day this month. To get started, try the below recipe that is a more locally-available version of a recipe often prepared with bananas, that are flown in from afar. To learn more about the nutrition principles of a low carbon diet, visit cafebonappetit.com

Composting food scraps from kitchen prep is a no brainer — an easy way to recycle soil fertility. But recycling the scrapings from diners’ plates is another story. That’s why Bon Appétit at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH, invested in a Somat Pulper, a system that grinds both pre and post-consumer food so it can be sent to a Class Two licensed municipal facility to become compost.

How do you get a plugged-in, tweeting, Facebooking generation interested and involved in sustainable farming? University of Redlands in Redlands, CA, found an answer this year for Low Carbon Diet Day– appeal to their inner techie.

By Kristen Rasmussen, MS, RD For this month’s well being challenge, we encourage you to provide your body with more nutrients and fiber and decrease your carbon footprint by enjoying more plant- based proteins. Demonstrate your commitment to increasing vegetable proteins in your diet by posting photos or comments about your plant-based protein meals and experiences on our Facebook page wall. Here’s a delicious, unique recipe for you to try. Black Bean and Beet Burgers

By Kristen Rasmussen, MS, RD For this month’s well being challenge, we encourage you to provide your body with more nutrients and fiber and decrease your carbon footprint by enjoying more plant- based proteins. Demonstrate your commitment to increasing vegetable proteins in your diet by posting photos or comments about your plant-based protein meals and experiences on our Facebook page wall. This white bean hummus recipe s a great way to get started.  White Bean Hummus with Oregano 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed* 3-4 tablespoons tahini 1-2 tablespoons olive oil Juice from 1/2 lemon 1/2 -1 teaspoon salt 3 sprigs fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano *In Bon Appétit kitchens, menu items containing beans are made with cooked dry beans. You can substitute cooked dry beans for canned beans in your home as well. They may take longer to prepare, but have fresher […]

At the Second Annual North vs. South Champion Chef Competition hosted by Bon Appétit at Washington University in St. Louis last month, competitors from opposite sides of campus came out in honor of Bon Appétit’s Low Carbon Diet Day and competed in an Iron Chef-style competition with a focus on low carbon cooking. (Read more about what that entails here). Composed of BAMCO chefs and student sous chefs, each team had exactly 30 minutes to cook the most delicious, low carbon meal for a panel of expert judges, which included area chefs from Winslow’s Home and Eclipse Restaurant, as well as Ligaya Figueras of Sauce, St. Louis’ premier culinary magazine.

While Bon Appétit makes a big fuss on Low Carbon Diet Day to call our diners’ attention to the five foundations of a planet-friendlier diet, our chefs practice these principles every day. Whether it’s Monday or Wednesday, patrons can always find plenty of locally sourced, vegetarian options or dishes with meat such as chicken and pork, which come from lower methane-emitting animals than cows.

What’s the shortest route to a reporter’s heart? Through her stomach of course! We believe the best way to deliver the fundamental Bon Appétit story, that we cook everything from scratch using fresh, often local, as-sustainable- as-possible ingredients, is to feed it to people — literally. To that end, we invited a select group of local media and VIPs and Diet for a Hot Planet author Anna Lappé to join us for an informal discussion over dinner cooked by one of our stellar teams. Anna is one of the leaders of the food movement — she was born into it, as the daughter of Frances Moore Lappé, whose 1971 book Diet for a Small Planet became a best-seller and the first handbook for eco-conscious eaters everywhere. Anna interviewed Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation Director Helene York for her own book. […]

By Vera Chang, West Coast Fellow for Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation An art project in Cornish Cafe by a sculpture student Written in honor of a creating a more peaceful world through eating alongside one another and low carbon choices  When you combine an arts school and a socially responsible food services company, the results can be interesting. Last Thursday, on April 14, Bon Appétit Management Company celebrated its fourth Low Carbon Diet Day, and Cornish College of the Arts transformed this annual event into an occasion in which eating was revered as art, and art added another dimension to sustainable dining.

Yesterday Bon Appétit Management Company held its fourth annual Low Carbon Diet Day across the country. To celebrate, the kitchen team at the University of Maryland in Baltimore tempted their guests’ palates toward climate-friendlier pastures by reinventing a dish that has gained a reputation as the cheap/quick/greasy go-to of most college students: the pizza.