10 Student Groups Win $1,000 to Improve Food Sustainability on Campus

Students clowning around in a garden

The Goucher College Agriculture Cooperative (Ag Co-op) was one of 10 winners of a Student Activist Grant

Food service pioneer Bon Appétit Management Company’s Student Activist Grant contest drew almost 50 inspiring entries, heated Instagram voting

Palo Alto, CA (October 25, 2019) — No slacktivism here! Students around the country are eager to get their hands dirty to improve the sustainability of food on their college campuses.

Forty-nine student groups applied for Bon Appétit’s Student Activist Grants contest, held in honor of the 10th anniversary of our Fellowship Program. (Bon Appétit Fellows are recent college graduates who were sustainability champions on their Bon Appétit-served campuses.) The applications poured in from all over the country, in the categories of campus farms and gardens, waste prevention and reduction, hunger and food insecurity, and food literacy, education, and advocacy. They ranged from low-tech (plants for a campus farm and reusable pans to transport donated food) to high-tech (a solar-powered ventilation system for hoop houses).

“We need things to inspire us and give us hope these days,” said Bon Appétit CEO Fedele Bauccio. “Reading these applications reminded me — and everyone else at Bon Appétit involved with this contest — that small, concrete actions by bright young people can have potentially big payoff in making our food system more sustainable and just.”

The past and present Bon Appétit Fellows narrowed the group down to 20 semifinalists. Voting opened Oct. 11 for the People’s Choice award, via Likes accumulated on project posts tagged #BAMCOStudentActivistGrants on Instagram. Wheaton College’s student government sustainability committee almost immediately took the lead and held it, ending the contest at 5,922 votes. The other nine winners were selected by Bon Appétit senior leadership based on the specificity of their projects, their estimated level of achievability, and the anticipated impact they would have on campus and/or surrounding community.

And the winners are (read more via the links below):

The grants will be distributed in November, and the winners will report back at the end of the academic year on their progress, which we’ll share on our company blog.

Congratulations to all of these passionate change-makers!

About Bon Appétit Management Company

Bon Appétit Management Company (www.bamco.com) is an on-site restaurant company operating 1,000-plus locations in 33 states for corporations, universities, and museums. Bon Appétit chefs cook from scratch, including sauces, stocks, and soups. The Palo Alto–based food service company is a recognized industry leader in environmentally and socially responsible practices, with awards from organizations including the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership CouncilActerraJames Beard Foundation, and many others.

Media contact: Bonnie Powell, [email protected]