Food for Thought

Penn chefs took street food to the next level over the course of the first annual Wellness Cup, creating flavorful yet approachable dishes such as jackfruit empanadas, hearts of palm lobster rolls, a build-your-own falafel bar, vegan bang-bang cauliflower steak, and cornbread pancakes with seitan chili, spicy maple syrup, and “sour cream” derived from a sunflower seed base. But the winning dish was...

Congratulations to Tanarsha Farley and Cristina Espinosa, two of our chefs who travelled to Dallas, TX to represent Bon Appétit at Compass Group’s annual Women in Culinary Showcase in early March, a gathering among all of Compass’s sectors that celebrates women’s contributions to the field.

What is the meaning of fifty cents? In today’s world, two quarters might get you a stick of gum, a postage stamp, or one small piece of fruit. Weighed against the national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, fifty cents are equivalent to a little over four minutes of work. For a farmworker, however, fifty cents mean something entirely different.  

We’re no strangers to fighting food waste at Bon Appétit – we've been finding ways to keep food out of landfills since we opened our doors. Our most exciting step toward fighting food waste in our kitchens was the creation of Waste Not™ in 2021, our proprietary waste tracking system created by chefs, for chefs. Now we are excited to introduce our newly upgraded companywide waste commitments, which will help us meet our broader goal of reducing food loss and waste nationally by 50% by 2030, which we first pledged to work toward in 2016.  

While many food labels you might find in the grocery store provide insight on a farm’s environmental approach or treatment of animals (think: USDA Certified Organic or Certified Humane), few give meaningful insight on the ways farmworkers are compensated or treated. This is where programs like the Fair Food Program (FFP) and the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) come in.

After almost two decades of boycotting, marching, educating, researching, and signing onto commitments, Bon Appétit Management Company is proud to reflect on progress made while continuing the fight for farmworkers’ rights.

Bon Appétit teams have long sought to support our college campuses in their efforts to address student food insecurity in inventive ways. From food pantries and swipe donation programs to food co-ops and food recovery, there are many encouraging examples of how our teams are working with their campus communities to confront a complex and pervasive, yet often invisible hardship. 

Bon Appétit pulled out all the stops to commemorate a client's three incredible decades in Carmel, Indiana. A jubilant celebration marked the 30th anniversary of this financial services firm's presence in this vibrant community just outside of Indianapolis. Bon Appétit was honored to be a part of the festivities, having served this client for 26 of those 30 remarkable years.  

As Bon Appétit Fellows, part of our job is to travel to the different campuses we serve and collaborate with our culinary teams, along with university staff and student clubs, to engage students and inspire the next generation of sustainable food lovers and advocates. It’s always fun to get hands-on, of course, which is why we designed our quick pickling demo.