Focusing on Food Recovery
Fighting food waste and hunger simultaneously
Keeping food out of landfills has long been a critical part of our mission of food service for a sustainable future, and we attack food waste through myriad approaches. Our practice of cooking meals to order results in few unsold, unusable items at the end of a meal. However, overly generous estimates for catered events sometimes result in tasty leftovers such as entrées, whole-grain salads, and baked goods. In April 2013 we announced a new partnership with the Food Recovery Network, a student-run organization dedicated to recovering leftover food from college campuses to give to those in need.
The BAMCO Foundation’s three Fellows, who perform educational outreach about sustainable food systems on college campuses for the company, will continue to help interested students and staff at Bon Appétit-serviced colleges and universities start FRN chapters. A BAMCO Foundation Fellow coauthored the newest resource for FRN’s organizing toolkit. A Guide to Food Recovery for Chefs and Managers walks students and food service providers — not just Bon Appétit’s — through the process of launching a food recovery program. It addresses frequently asked questions and concerns raised about food donation such as food safety and liability.
In addition to partnering with FRN for food recovery, we’ve teamed with Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity, with more than 200 member food banks and 61,000 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, pantries, and shelters.
And in 2016, we committed that the majority of our accounts (at least 80%) will be Food Recovery Verified, meaning we’re regularly donating our excess food to people in need and verified by an independent 3rd party.