Bon Appétit is putting Whitman on a diet. But with almost two fully functional gyms, active student participation in sports and miles of highway just waiting to be traveled on bike or foot, you might wonder why a diet is necessary. Except that Bon Appétit doesn’t want to get rid of pounds of fat, they’re trying to get rid of pounds of carbon dioxide.

On Tuesday, April 22, Bon Appétit held a Low Carbon Diet Day to highlight their initiative to reduce carbon emissions within their company. Held in conjunction with the global celebration of Earth Day, Bon Appétit featured signs detailing their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as tips for students.

However, perhaps the most notable thing in Reid was the absence of some types of foods. Notably absent from the Fire and Spice line was meat of any kind: while a choice between chicken, beef or tofu is usually offered, on Tuesday there was only tofu or no tofu. There was also a sign announcing a new fee of 35 cents for to-go boxes.

The event was spearheaded by Roger Edens, general manager of Bon Appétit. According to Edens, the event worked toward achieving both short-term and long-term goals.

As Edens said in an e-mail, in the short term, Bon Appétit wants to “raise awareness and educate our guests on the importance of the food system in terms of total greenhouse gas emissions” and “set out a plan to reduce Bon Appétit’s greenhouse gas emissions in key areas by 25 percent over the next three years.”

In the long term, the overall goal is “to create definite change in how Bon Appétit operates, limit Bon Appétit’s greenhouse gas emissions in key areas” and “to educate students about the impact their choices have on climate change.”

The day comes as a response to both worldwide fears of global warming and to students’ increasing awareness of their own carbon emissions. In order to address this, Bon Appétit has laid out a plan to reduce their carbon emissions. They plan to accomplish this by reducing the usage of some foods, including meat: especially beef: and dairy, reducing the distance that food and air freight travel overall and reducing overall food and packaging waste.

Edens believes that students will be supportive of the initiative and that it could lead them to make a real change in their habits and, as a result, have a greater impact on overall carbon emissions.

“I believe that college students are receptive to learning more about how their personal food choices impact climate change and are willing to make small but consistent changes in the way that they eat…Feedback has been nothing but positive,” Edens said in an e-mail.

In fact, the vast majority of students surveyed said that they were happy about the changes being made, with 86 percent of students saying they believe that “Bon Appétit should try to purchase more foods that were grown locally.”

However, the main concern that students voiced was over the lack of availability of certain foods.
Said one student, “I could not live without bananas!”