When farmer Brenton Johnson first started out, his “farm” was literally his backyard in Austin, TX. In less than three years, he expanded out of his backyard and grew to serve over 1,000 neighbors through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
SAP Gets Its Roll On
Each quarter, Bon Appétit at SAP in Palo Alto,CA, offers a complimentary cooking class led by Café Three Chef/Manager Robert Perez. Past hands on courses have included pozole, fresh salsas, aguas frescas, and Asian spring rolls.
Funding Small Farms “One Chick at a Time” at Carleton
Strong local and regional food systems can lead to strong local economies and opportunities for people who are often left behind by traditional economic development. But it takes a while to build these systems. Bon Appétit was proud to cater a recent breakfast fundraiser for the Grow a Farmer Fund at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, which raised $4,270 for Latino farmers who want to raise free-range chickens in rural Minnesota.
Dinner Shouldn’t Be About Going Fishing for Information
Americans eat a lot of seafood. We rank third in global seafood consumption, behind China and Japan, and we spend billions of dollars every year on seafood. But for most Americans, the knowledge of what we’re eating ends with what’s printed on our menu. Most people have little idea about the complex route their fish has taken from the boat to their plate. Oceana recently released a report comparing the traceability systems in the beef and produce industries in the United States to the seafood industry. So how did they stack up?
The Cucumber College Fund at Happy Harvest Farm
At the tender ages of 12 and 14, Sam and Johnny Rosenblad are already seasoned entrepreneurs, taught well by their dad, farmer Jeff Rosenblad. They sell cucumbers from Happy Harvest Farms in Mount Angel, OR, at the local farmers’ market and to Bon Appétit at both University of Portland and Willamette University through the Farm to Fork program.
Frankly Fascinating Sausage Tour in Denver
People who say that the details of sausage making are best left to the imagination have never visited an artisanal sausage factory. A few lucky Bon Appétiters got to tour Continental Sausage Company – which has been in business in Denver for 30 years producing authentic Swiss-German style sausages from the best ingredients—and they have nothing to hide.
Employee Spotlight: WUrld Fusion at Wash U’s Secret Ingredients
Diners at the Indian Station in the Bear’s Den at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, often marvel at the quality, variety, and authenticity of the meals served there. While those qualities may be standard at Bon Appétit, Wash U does have two secret ingredients: two special cooks who work there: Sona Kukal, born in Kolkata in east India, and Zach Khan, born in Karachi, Pakistan.
Bon Appétit Teams with Carleton’s FireBellies for ‘Top Chef Dining Hall’
Students here sometimes complain that “there’s nothing to eat,” but that’s a result of their lack of creativity, not Bon Appétit’s. If you eat pasta Alfredo every meal, no matter how flavorful, it can get boring in the long run. Top Chef Dining Hall is designed to get people thinking outside their usual plates: in 30 minutes, five teams compete in making a three-course dinner (appetizer, entrée, and dessert) with only the ingredient and equipment available in the dining hall.
Speeding Up Caffeine Delivery at Redlands
Coffee is a morning necessity for some people. But for the busy student, waiting in line to get can throw off a packed schedule.To solve that problem, students at University of Redlands in Redlands, CA, can now order their favorite coffee drinks via text. Through a new easy-to-use program called Zingle, customers of the Bulldog Café are ordering their iced coffees, half-caf cappuccinos, and double mochas straight from their phones.
Macalester Students See Grass-Fed Ranching Firsthand
More and more people are learning about the environmental and health benefits of grass-finished beef and asking for it in stores and restaurants. Fifteen Macalester students from St. Paul, MN, got a chance to learn about this kind of ranching firsthand by visiting Thousand Hills Cattle Company in Cannon Falls, MN, a Bon Appétit Farm to Fork supplier.