Food
A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Bon Appétit, Reed's independent food service contractor, is a leader in sustainable practices in the food service industry. Bon Appétit was one of the first food service companies to link food choices to climate change and has made many strides to decrease its carbon footprint as a company. They have won many awards for their efforts on behalf of social and environmental responsibility, including an inaugural Leadership Award from the James Beard Foundation. In January 2014, the team won a Gold Sustainability Award through the city of Portland's Sustainability at Work program. A few of Bon Appétit's sustainable practices at Reed include:
- Sourcing food from local produce farmers, as well as local lamb and salmon and other seafood suppliers.
- Using biodegradable paper products, non-bleached napkins, and BPI-certified compostable VerTerra’s Dinnerware From Fallen Leaves™.
- Promoting a reusable cup initiative.
Since 1999, when Bon Appétit formally launched its Farm to Fork program, the company has required that all its chefs try to source at least 20 percent of their ingredients from small, owner-operated farms, ranches, and artisan businesses within 150 miles of their kitchens.
Bon Appétit believes in cooking from scratch using fresh, quality ingredients. Vegetable and meat trimmings are used for stock. All eggs it purchases are certified cage-free, seafood meets Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Guidelines, ground beef is raised without antibiotics or hormones (and comes from either a third-party-certified humane supplier or a local small ranch), and poultry is raised without routine antibiotics in feed or water. The rice bran it uses for cooking oil (which is more stable than common vegetable oils) is recycled. All food waste is composted.
if you have questions or suggestions related to sustainability practices and Reed's food service program.