Bon Appétit Management Company

As the Midwest Fellow for Bon Appetit Management Company Foundation, I get to work with folks at BAMCO-operated colleges across the country, from my home in Minneapolis, MN, all the way south to Austin, TX; west to Denver, CO; and east to Cleveland, OH. Since much of my travel this semester happened to be all in a row (I’ll be with the American Meat screening tour, which BAMCO is cosponsoring, for much of its Colorado and Ohiolegs), I decided I’d set out on my own 10-week tour, henceforth dubbed Piper’s Epic Spring Semester Road Trip.

This Saturday, February 16, join thousands of “foodies,” “farmies,” and leaders in food and farming in watching the TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat conference. Bon Appétit is very honored that Maisie Greenawalt, our vice president of strategy, was selected to present. During the third session, Empower, which starts at 4pm EST, Maisie will speak frankly about “How the Humane Sausage Gets Made” — how a large corporation like Bon Appétit decides to tackle animal welfare issues, and what specific challenges we face in meeting our aggressive deadline of 2015 to end all purchases of pork raised without gestation crates.

Employees at Target City Center in Minneapolis, MN, are spoiled when it comes to access to fresh produce. The Nicollet Mall farmers’ market sets up right outside the front door, and they can join the Hay River Farm CSA that’s exclusively for Target employees.

We’re pleased to be sponsoring the 10-state screening tour of American Meat, a new documentary that takes an evenhanded look at both the industrial and the pastoral sides of the U.S. meat system. This Thursday, February 5, at 6pm, Stanford University will show American Meat followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Graham, that includes Maisie Greenawalt, Vice President of Strategy for Bon Appétit Management Company

Since I first heard it was possible, it has been a dream of mine to own a car that runs on waste vegetable oil — burning a resource widely regarded as trash. Starting last summer, I was finally able to make that dream a reality.

This Thursday, February 7, Bon Appétit Management Company Vice President Maisie Greenawalt will participate in a Tweetchat* with the organizers of the upcoming TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat conference. Tune into Twitter between 4-4:30pm EST/1-1:30pm PST and follow the hashtag #TEDxMan.

Bon Appétit believes that making a difference in the lives of others—one that pays dividends long past the holiday season — is the best gift we can give. This year’s beneficiary is the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA).

I knew I had to visit Pure Country Pork after learning it was the first sustainable hog operation in the United States to be certified by Food Alliance under its stricter guidelines of no farrowing crates or gestation stalls. Plus, since Bon Appétit committed last year to phasing out all pork raised using gestation crates by 2015, I knew I needed to talk to some experts to better understand the significance of this commitment.

The kitchen crew at Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe, NM, led by Executive Chef Guido Lambelet, took a trip out to Old Windmill Dairy to learn more about the great cheese they’ve been using in their kitchens — and to get a chance to make some of their own.

The drought that struck the United States this year stunted growth of field corn and soy, and as a result, 2013 will be the first time in 38 years where annual beef, pork, and chicken output all decline. We need a resilient food system that can cope with a changing climate and unpredictable conditions such as this drought. How are we going to get there?