Bon Appétit Management Company

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.

As Hurricane Sandy barreled toward the coast, businesses and entire cities shut down to brace themselves for what was to come. But college dining halls don’t have that luxury. College students are already “at home,” and – no matter the weather — need to be fed. And local farmers and fishermen need to be able to sell their harvest.

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.

Missouri was the first stop in the 10-state Young Farmers Screening Series for American Meat, a documentary that looks evenhandedly at both the industrial and the pastoral sides of the U.S. meat system. Bon Appétit at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, kicked off the screening with a grass-fed beef barbecue for 325 attendees, who stayed for a panel discussion and special announcement.

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!

Organized by Midwest Fellow S.K. Piper and students at Carleton, St. Olaf, and Macalester Colleges, the seven-farm bike tour and closing party was completely free for participants, funded by in-kind donations and community grants that Piper helped the student organizers secure, with the food cost being covered by the Bon Appétit teams at the three schools.

Americans eat a lot of seafood. We rank third in global seafood consumption, behind China and Japan, and we spend billions of dollars every year on seafood. But for most Americans, the knowledge of what we’re eating ends with what’s printed on our menu. Most people have little idea about the complex route their fish has taken from the boat to their plate. Oceana recently released a report comparing the traceability systems in the beef and produce industries in the United States to the seafood industry. So how did they stack up?

The food item that received the most attention last Tuesday was never touched by a chef’s hand at all: the kiwi berry.

Many Americans now know the names of the farms that grow their food, but even as we’re urged to eat more seafood for its health benefits, few of us can identify local species or the fishing operations that supply them. The time is ripe for local fish. Please join @bamco and @seafoodwatch for a Twitter chat on Monday, September 24, at 12pm Pacific.

What can you possibly say in 140 characters? A lot, actually! “Twitter chats” are free-form discussions in which people weigh in on a given topic, using an agreed-upon #hashtag. They can be a fun way to tap into the “hive mind.” This Thursday, at 12 p.m. Pacific time, we’ll be hosting a Twitter chat about what “food services for a sustainable future” should look like for Bon Appétit Management Company – follow along via #BAsustain!