Bon Appétit Management Company

On a sunny fall afternoon outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, Midwest Fellow Elise Kulers joined 20 first-year and transfer students of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods college on a tour of the White Violet Center for Eco-Justice farm.

Bon Appétit teams across the country celebrated our 18th annual Eat Local Challenge by going beyond simply serving delicious local food to helping guests shop locally, too.

One of the easiest ways to eat all-local meals is through versatile entrées like the trendy and delicious grain bowl. We have compiled a flexible formula that will help you get creative with locally available ingredients. Wherever you shop, from farmers’ markets, farmstands, and local co-ops to grocery stores, the tips and tricks below will help you develop delicious bowls, again and again.

During this year’s Eat Local Challenge, Bon Appetit is helping our guests not only eat locally, but shop locally too. And while we all enjoy visiting a farmers’ market or a local farmstand, it’s worth exploring the myriad other benefits that local food and strong local food systems can provide.

To the uninitiated or unfamiliar, eating locally can feel daunting. During this year’s Eat Local Challenge, we’re here to help, with local shopping lists for our guests and this set of handy tips and tricks.

Bon Appétit Management Company General Manager Michael Cleary and his team introduce students to house-made ferments with new station concept.

Fellow Elise Kulers visited Bui Natural Tofu, a beloved Locally Crafted partner at Reed College and a mainstay for tofu enthusiasts in Portland, Oregon.

Furman University has long served Due South Coffee in their Library Café, keeping students fueled on responsibly sourced and locally roasted beans. So, when Bon Appétit Fellow and Furman Graduate Elise Dudley reached out to Professor Sarah Worth about bringing her Philosophy of Taste students to experience a coffee tasting at Due South’s Roastery, the educator welcomed the opportunity. 

To celebrate our fruitful relationships with our Farm to Fork and Locally Crafted vendors, we’ve created an almost-quarterly series that shines a spotlight on this longtime partners. This quarter, we’re telling the story of Open Hands Farm, a beloved partner for a number of Minnesota-based Bon Appétit teams. 

During this year’s Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting and celebrating the women-owned Farm to Fork vendors who supply our teams and the communities they serve.