Bon Appétit

The Indoor Generation? Not at St. Olaf College.

I recently read an article written by a mother complaining that we are raising a generation of kids that can only find happiness indoors, in front of their TVs or computer games.  Her own kids pouted and resisted when she tried to take them on an outdoor nature trip. You know what? My heart didn't go out to her or any of the other parents with the same complaints about their kids...where were you when they were developing those habits?

OK...off my soapbox.  But I mention this because it is related to another story (blog) I came across recently.  A much more promising story about our younger generation. The blog was from STOGROW farm (St. Olaf Garden Research and Organic Works,) a student run community initiative at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. We happen to run the food program on the campus, and our team at the college does a great job promoting local and sustainability initiatives. The Bon Appétit Midwest Regional office recently gave STOGROW a gift of $3,000.  With this money the students decided to branch out and bought lambs and chickens. Now, you should know that St. Olaf is not an agricultural school.  And, that STOGROW was conceived by a group of students three years ago, who wanted to built a farm on campus for their own enjoyment and to promote sustainability. Some came from farm families, some were environmental students and others were just looking for a fun outdoor summer projects.  Imagine that! A summer that might have been spent other wise listening to their IPods and playing computer games indoors.

In their third season, the farm has grown from the original 1/4 acre to 2 acres... and I must stress, created and nurtured by young people anxious to enjoy and promote an outdoor way of life. It has to be said that our team at St. Olaf was very supportive from the get go. They committed to buying all that the farm can produce for the café, before seeds were even planted. They gave upfront money for equipment and seeds in exchange for future harvests. They paid some of the students farm workers an hourly wage under a similar exchange program.

As is typical  in the daily activities of our chefs and managers in college/university settings, they step out of their four kitchen walls to play a role in educating our students about food and where it comes from. In this case, the team at St. Olaf literally moved  that role into the fields and into the lives of a generation of outdoor minded students! I'm note sure that this story about studenst at St. Olaf is so unique. There are probably many hundreds of stories that can be told of student driven projects like this one, who somehow have managed to avoid the the addiction of indoor entertainment. Good parenting? Inspiring teachers? Probably. A little support from a few adults, like the team at St. Olaf? Could be the tipping point. 

Here is a picture of the lambs coming home to the farm. Make sure you go to the farm blog for an inspiring pictorial experience of how the students are spending their time outdoors.

posted: marc a zammit: director culinary support & development, Bon Appétit Management Co.

 

The Proof Is In the Supersized Pudding

Last week I attended my second meeting as a member of the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Round Table. This is an opportunity for a first hand education on current health issues and allows me, in part, to set direction for our culinary program from the perspective of nutrition. I can probably plan years ahead based on what I learn at these meeting.  At the same time I am able to offer real world experience on how to influence the advancement of healthy lifestyle in the food industry.

I followed Dr. Willet's campaign to remove trans-fats from our food supply for several years. His work persuaded me to move Bon Appétit to an early position on the issue, long before it became a mainstream consumer concern. Dr. Willet is Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the School and a founding member of the Round Table. I am fortunate that today I have one-on-one direct access to him. 

Last year I proposed to Dr. Willet that possibly high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) should be removed from the food supply chain in the same way that trans-fats were being scrutinized. He has tremendous influence and I thought I needed to make the ask, especially as obesity in youth had become a front page issue. Too many times I have seen students in our cafe walk to their table with dinner trays lined with 2 to 3 super sized glasses of soft drinks.  Dr. Willet hesitated, letting me know that  there were no studies indicating a direct connection between HFCS and obesity.  A big disappointment on my part, to say the least.   But, like all good academics, he needed to see the proof in the pudding. I respect that and it reminded me that even at Bon Appetit we have to be careful to to base our decision on scientific facts and not crazy emotions.

Most recently, Dr. Willet got his proof. At this last Round Table meeting, a faculty staff member of the School, Dr. Gortmaker, presented a paper on: Estimating the Energy Gap Among US Children: A Counterfactual Approach.  A pretty complex document, but suffice it to say for our purposes that his study finds a direct link between the calorie intake of certain foods and obesity in young adults. One of those key foods: sweetened beverages, " One source of calories associated with overweight in both observational and experimental studies is sugar-sweetened beverages. Studies suggest that calories from these beverages were often not offset by reduction of intake elsewhere."

I am exited by about this proof in the pudding because it will give me the momentum to continue to promote healthier drinks in our cafés without feeling like I'm standing on a soap box. While we can't remove HFCS beverages totally , we have set in motion an initiative that offers an increasing amount of alternatives to fountain beverages. Today, you will find  lower sugar choices like house made agua frescas, lemonades, iced teas.   But in the meantime, as this study starts to get the attention of the media and public, I expect mainstream reaction at some point in the future and I think we can be prepared to move towards a very different beverage program. Who is to say that today's soda fountain will be the same in five years? Who's to say that beverage companies will not change their formulation based on pressure from companies like Bon Appétit? Who's to say we won't open a café (or many) that are free of an HFCS soda machine? Who's to say we can't offer a different kind of pudding that's tastes just as good but is healthier for you ...even super sized!

posted: marc a zammit, director culinary support and development.

Compliments at Commencement

I came across this brief mention of Bon Appétit Management Company in a graduation speech given at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and I couldn’t help but feel like a parent sitting in the audience, humble and proud.  Dr. Jim Farrell, a professor of history and American Studies at St. Olaf, encouraged the students to “learn the beauty of language, learn the moral ecology of everyday life,” and he also said:

“I hope you’re learning how small decisions make a big difference. Too often, we opt out of a good cause or a good action by saying that 'it’s no big deal.' But many of our most pressing problems are the product of billions of decisions that are no big deal.

Three times a day, in Stav Hall, Bon Appétit has also been teaching you how small decisions make a big difference. Each of us drinks a glass or two of milk a day, but all of us together drink about 250 gallons. Over the course of a year, that’s about $300,000 worth of milk that comes from the Hastings Dairy, a Minnesota business that delivers hormone-free and antibiotic-free milk to campus. We get good milk, we put our money in the local economy, and—most importantly—we put our money where our values are.

The same sort of thing is true of the STOGROW farm, St. Olaf’s organic garden. Three years ago, when she was getting started, your classmate Day Burtness asked Bon Appétit if they’d be willing to buy any organic vegetables she might grow. They said, 'Sure, we’ll buy all of them,' and they started a productive partnership that culminated last week with a $3000 award to STOGROW from national Bon Appétit for doing the kind of work that brings good food—and not just food that tastes good—to consumers like us.”

It makes me proud that there are people like Professor Farrell who truly understand and embody the values and services of Bon Appétit.  I’m humbled that he supports us to the extent of including us in a speech given to graduating students, their friends and family members and school faculty.  To me, this is sustainability working from within by changing the thoughts and actions of our future generations.

Congratulations to graduates at all of our colleges and best wishes for a bright and successful future!

-Katherine Kwon, Communications Project Manager