Bon Appétit Management Company

   What, indeed? Well, Peter Murrey, a junior at Washington University in St. Louis (featured above), didn’t seem to think there was anything more appropriate. He was one among many students who decided to celebrate Earth Day 2010 in a bang-out fashion. In fact, seventeen different WashU organizations banded together for a day-long celebration that had everything from face painting and cotton candy to a film screening of Food, Inc. to a presentation about food sustainability by a recent WashU alum (yours truly!). Bon Appétit was also showcasing how to eat a Low Carbon Diet throughout the day, adding to the festivities. WashU has undergone a lot of transformations in the “green” department since I started out as a freshman there five years ago, and this was the biggest Earth Day celebration I’ve seen yet. I’m looking forward to an […]

At many BAMCO college and university accounts, it's common for enthusiastic students and BAMCO employees to maintain gardens that supply fresh produce for the campus community and cafés. A growing number of corporations have also started gardens, where employees can get their hands off of the keyboard and into the dirt at lunch, and enjoy fresh produce in corporate cafés and break rooms. BAMCO is at the forefront of this trend with at least 12 of our corporate accounts actively gardening. In this New York Times article, journalist Kim Severson covers the rise of company gardens, including an interview with Resident District Manager Kent Buell about some of the challenges in starting and running a successful corporate garden.

Here's a fun little clip :0) While going through footage of an interview I did with one of our chefs about local food, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before…pay attention to the background…I couldn't stop laughing! ~Posted by Carolina Fojo, East Coast Fellow for Bon Appétit Mgmt. Co.   

The Harned Family, Three Sisters Farm By Vera Chang, West Coast Fellow, Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation Since I attended the 2010 Eco Farm Conference session, “Is Small the Only Beautiful?” I have reflected on this question. My headed turned from side to side during the closing plenary as Eliot Coleman and Gary Hirschberg spoke, two East Coasters with contrary farming philosophies. Coleman is an organic farmer, author, and proponent of small-scale farming while Hirschberg is the Stonyfield Farm CEO and proponent of offering large-scale support for organic production. A couple of weeks ago, I drove through California’s Central Valley, a 450 mile region home to California’s most productive agriculture. The area is dominated by large-scale agriculture. It is not uncommon for a single farm to be several thousand acres. Collectively grossing $27 billion in revenues last year, the Central Valley provides roughly […]

As a Fellow for Bon Appétit Management Company, I spent this last semester traveling to different East Coast colleges where we serve food. I met a lot of people on my travels–here’s a video of Darlene, a baker in our pastry kitchen at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH. She taught me how to make the most delicious coconut macaroon cookies—Enjoy! ~Posted by Carolina Fojo, East Coast Fellow for Bon Appétit Mgmt. Co.

April 8, 2010 Washington D.C.   As I travel along the East Coast, giving presentations about “The Story Behind the Food” that we eat, every audience is different. Some are wide-eyed and silent, asking few questions. Some have seen “Food, Inc.”, or read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and are eager to learn more. And then some groups are all about asking challenging questions. These groups are typically made up of individuals who are very passionate about food issues, and are excited to learn about what Bon Appétit is doing to create change, but are not afraid to challenge us either.   I recently went to such a college—I was invited to speak as part of the Green Lecture Series at Gallaudet University, school for the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington D.C. And I as I gave the presentation I’ve […]

What if each of us went to the store, bought two bags of groceries, and immediately discarded one? In a sense, that's what happens every day. There are no reliable estimates of how much food is wasted in the U.S. from field to plate, but the most educated guesses range between 40 and 50 percent. Startling statistics from Helene York's Atlantic Food channel post, but she also offers promising solutions to excessive food waste, and discusses BAMCO's waste reduction strategies and commitments as part of our Low Carbon Diet.

On the eve of Low Carbon Diet Day, BAMCO CEO Fedele Bauccio reflects on our company's commitment to reducing our carbon emissions and highlights the main principles of this year's Low Carbon Diet Day in a Huffington Post Op-Ed. His call for individuals and businesses to base decisions on the greater good is inspiring. When it comes to the carbon impact of our food choices, "…we can help slow climate change with each bite we take, without sacrificing taste."

March 23-24, 2010 Boston, MA   Do you know how many tomatoes a Florida farmworker has to pick in order to fill one 32-lb bucket? Do you know how many buckets Florida farmworkers have to fill in an hour in order to make the FL minimum wage?   These were the questions I asked students at Emmanuel College (Boston, MA) and Lesley University (Cambridge, MA) to answer during a recent visit. As students poured through the doors of the café, pushing past each other and trying to beat the lunch lines, I stood by the entrance shouting “Answer two quick questions and win a free pizza party!” And I was happy to learn that even though I’m almost a full year out of college, some things haven’t changed: students still love pizza, (especially when it’s free :0)   The purpose […]

Meat in the hot seat: On the Atlantic Food channel, BAMCO's Helene York delves into the nuances of the debate over beef's (including grass-fed) environmental impact. The excerpt below elegantly sums up what we can do to reduce our carbon foodprint: "If we view "beef and (gasp) cheese as special toppings rather than center-of-the-plate foods, eaters and chefs may actually enjoy them more, and we may even be able to support better quality meats at the same time." What do you think? Read the full post on the Atlantic Food channel here.