Bon Appetit Chef Joseph McGarry selects local tomatoes.

Bon Appetit Management Co., which provides food service to over 400 cafes at corporations, universities, colleges and special events throughout the United States, initiated a "Low Carbon Diet" program in 2007, aimed at reducing the carbon emissions associated with its cafeterias' supply chains. One year later, Bon Appetit is publicly launching the program with a successful trial year under its belt.

The Low Carbon Diet initiative is a three-year program, with different goals set for each year. Some goals, such as a reduction in beef purchases, are phased over the course of the three years, while others are distinct year one or year two goals. The first phase of the program included a reduction in import and high-carbon purchases such as beef and tropical fruits, and robust carbon emission calculations for all of the food the company sources.

Because the science surrounding carbon emission calculations was also changing during that year, Maisie Greenawalt, director of communications and strategic initiatives for Bon Appetit, says the team was surprised at the heavy carbon emissions associated with some goods -- she mentions lamb and rice as two examples -- and at where some goods were being sourced.

"When we started thinking about what might be difficult to source locally, garlic was not on the top of our list, given that we're so close to Gilroy, so imagine our surprise to discover our garlic was coming from China," Greenawalt says. "Once we discovered it, we asked our supplier to source it locally and they did."

Meeting reductions targets was easier in some cases than the company expected. Bon Appetit aimed to reduce beef purchases by 10 percent in the first year and 25 percent by the end of the third year--but cafes cut beef consumption (and its associated carbon costs) by 23 percent in the first year alone.

In the second year, which began in April, the company is conducting water and energy audits of its clients' facilities, tapping into auditing services provided by local utilities. "We're a management company so we don't own the facilities and we don't see a direct dollar back, but we feel it's an added value for our clients," Greenawalt says. "Our clients are predominantly corporations, colleges, and universities, and they're all trying to figure out where they stand in relation to sustainability, so any solutions we can provide are welcomed with open arms."
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