Low Carbon Diet Day

Release date: April 22, 2008 |

In celebration of Earth Day, Goucher’s food services provider, Bon Appétit, is declaring 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 company is also implementing a series of procurement initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in certain high-impact areas by 25 percent over the next three years.