Low Carbon Diet Day

Release date: April 22, 2009 |

In celebration of Earth Day, Goucher’s food services provider, Bon Appétit Management Company, is declaring Wednesday, April 22, Low Carbon Diet Day. The college’s dinning facilities will serve foods that help illustrate key principles of how food production and consumption can help reduce climate change.

In the United States, food now travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to table, which is as much as 25 percent farther than two decades ago, according to the Worldwatch Institute. Shipping and warehousing food has become one of the major contributors to global warming and air and water pollution. Wasted food also generates significant greenhouse gasses. The food system as a whole is now responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Though it may seem like a small step, choosing seasonal foods that are grown locally and that are minimally processed can have an important cumulative effect on the environment.

Bon Appétit has 400 cafés in corporations, specialty venues, and colleges and universities — including at Goucher — and serves 80 million meals per year. The company has launched initiatives to raise awareness about where food comes from, the importance of local versus organic, and the impact of “food miles” — the distance food travels from the farm to the dining table.

The Low Carbon Diet is more than a one-day event. Bon Appétit has set measurable goals to reduce the carbon footprint of the highest impact areas of its business, including:

• Reducing beef by 25 percent  
• Reducing cheese by 10 percent
• Sourcing all meat and poultry from North America
• Sourcing nearly all fruits and vegetables from North America, using seasonal local produce as a first preference and using tropical fruits only as “special occasion” ingredients
• Reducing food waste by 25 percent
• Reducing consumption of processed sweets, snacks, and chocolate by 10 percent
• Eliminating air-freighted seafood
• Reducing the use of water and energy.