Bon Appétit Management Company

The Eat Local Challenge (ELC), now in its 19th year, is a little like Christmas at Bon Appétit. Of course, Bon Appétiters celebrate the bounty of local foods year-round, but every September, accounts across the country participate in this one big day that shines a national spotlight on our commitment to supporting local food systems.  

From beets and carrots to radishes and ginger, root vegetables are the foundation of countless delicious dishes, bringing depth and earthy flavor to your plate. Celebrate the breadth of root vegetables and explore dishes that highlight these ingredients.

Each September, Bon Appétit teams across the country gear up for Eat Local Challenge, a celebration of local ingredients, and the farmers and artisans who produce them. Since 2005, when Eat Local Challenge first occurred, the event has perhaps been the foremost way Bon Appetit brings attention to local food systems: by sourcing and serving 100% local meals to the delight of our guests across the country. 

From dill flowers to heirloom melons and selfies with pigs, the Curtis Institute of Music team got an up-close look at the work of Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-operative farms on a recent trip out into the field.

We’re looking back at the impact of the Healthy Kids in the Bon Appétit Kitchen series of food education classes we held over the past few months for kids all over the country. The Food Education team hosted over 20 classes and reached 400 children this summer.  Hooray for watermelon pizza!

Meet Bon Appétit’s nominee for 2023 Chef Appreciation Week Chef of the Year, Doran Payne!

When Bon Appétit Fellow Elise Dudley and over a dozen Vassar College students caravanned out to Amenia, NY earlier this year, they expected to learn firsthand about the dairy industry and meet a storied local Farm to Fork partner. They got even more, including a lesson in emerging cooperative models that protect small dairy farms.  

In New York’s Hudson Valley, Farm to Fork vendor Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy offers an alternative dairying model that insulates small dairy farmers negative trends impacting the dairy industry.

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is sadly all too commonplace on the open sea. Researchers estimate that one in five wild-caught fish are landed via IUU fishing, leading to more than $30 billion in illegal profit with billions of dollars of losses to the legal global seafood economy. These egregious violations of national and international regulations threaten fisheries and ocean ecosystems and are also associated with horrendous human rights abuses including forced labor and human trafficking, making action to address the issue all the more urgent. For that reason, we at Bon Appétit Management Company have signed an open letter to President Biden asking The White House to take measures to crack down on IUU fishing.

Under the leadership of Culinary Director Kristela Nazario-Mendoza, the Bon Appétit Management Company at Chase Center team is putting Bon Appétit’s Farm to Fork program into action at one of the world’s premier sporting arenas.