Published 04-17-07
Submitted by Bon Appetit Management Company
PALO ALTO, CA - April 17, 2007 "“ Global warming activists have a new ally in their fight to save the planet-lunch.
It turns out that food (and all the energy it takes to make it) is one of the largest human activities contributing to global warming. The average American creates 2.8 tons of CO2 emissions each year by eating-even more than the 2.2 tons each person generates by driving, according to recent research (Echel and Martin, 2006).
Beginning on Earth Day, 2007, Bon Appétit Management Company-the nation's pioneer in "greening" food service, is launching a national campaign to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and help their guests do the same.
With 400 cafés in corporations, universities and specialty venues nationwide-including Yahoo!, Oberlin College and the Seattle Art Museum-Bon Appétit will encourage chefs and diners to think about how their food choices could help ease the climate crisis.
"It is insane to sit down to lunch in Los Angeles and drink water that has traveled 5,000 miles from Fiji," said Helene York, director of the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation, the program's organizer. "We are scrutinizing our own food habits to reduce our carbon footprint as a company, and we are helping our guests do the same on an individual level."
The Low Carbon Diet will include:
Bon Appétit, which serves more than 80 million meals per year, has taken a radical approach to the business of food service by bringing sustainably-grown foods to the American public through their Farm to Fork standard (buying from local farmers and artisan producers), initiatives in sustainable seafood, milk without artificial hormones, antibiotic reduction in poultry and meat, trans-fat free cooking, cage-free eggs, and their stand against animal cloning.
"The Low Carbon Diet is about eating in a way that is conscious of environmental impact. It also happens to be about a $400 million company making radical decisions that are smart business," added York. "Our Low Carbon Diet gets to the heart of an issue that has been conspicuously absent from the global warming conversation."
About Bon Appétit Management Company
Bon Appétit Management Co. is an onsite restaurant company offering full food service management to corporations, universities and specialty venues. Bon Appétit is committed to sourcing sustainable, local foods for all its cafés throughout the country. A pioneer in environmentally sound sourcing policies, Bon Appétit has developed programs with Environmental Defense, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch, the Humane Society of the United States, and other leading conservation organizations. Based in Palo Alto, CA, Bon Appétit has more than 400 cafés in 28 states, including Oracle Corporation, American University and the Getty Center. (www.bamco.com)
Bon Appetit Management Co. is an onsite restaurant company offering full food service management to corporations, universities and specialty venues. Bon Appetit is committed to sourcing local, sustainable food supplies for all cafes throughout the country. A pioneer in environmentally sound sourcing policies, Bon Appetit has developed programs with Environmental Defense, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch, and other leading conservation organizations. Based in Palo Alto, CA. Bon Appetit has more than 400 cafes in 30 states, including Oracle Corporation, American University and the Getty Center.
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