Green Catering at St. Paul Panorama Reception

Hotels and convention centers often do not offer the kinds of food choices many of our members desire. That’s why we’ve chosen Bon Appétit Management Company to cater this year’s Opening Reception at the Minnesota History Center—and you’ll be excited to learn that we’ve found our sustainability soul mates in the food service business.

The company’s Web site describes itself as “a culture driven to create food that is alive with flavor and nutrition, prepared from scratch using authentic ingredients. We do this in a socially responsible manner for the well being of our guests, communities, and the environment.”

This company bought a closed dairy, made it hormone free and organic, rehired the laid-off staff and doubled the staff size, and named the new dairy "Deja Moo"! On the menu: grass-grazed beef and seafood from the Monterey Aquarium-approved list.

A group of graduate students is working with the Conference Planning Committee to ensure that the NAAEE conference is more sustainable. Kerry Hadiaris, Clare Croteau, and Britt Carlson from the University of Minnesota Duluth are providing a wealth of enthusiasm along with their time. They are focusing on improving what we can within the limitations of a conference of this size.

Carlson ate Bon Appétit meals for four years while attending St. Olaf College, which had hired the company to provide all on-campus meals. “I worked with Bon Appétit as a member of the Environmental Coalition from 2001–2004,” she said. “Bon Appétit … listens to its consumers; they were always catering to student’s dietary, health, and environmental concerns. With Bon Appétit’s help, St. Olaf has become a leader in sustainability in the college community.”

Read more about Bon Appétit at http://www.bamco.com/website/dream.html

Top U.S. Green Cities Include the Twin Cities

This spring, the New York-based Green Guide, a print and e-mail news and information source for green living ranked
and recognized cities across the country that are providing the most energy-efficient, least polluting and healthy spaces in which to live. All 251 metropolitan areas with populations of 100,000 were analyzed. St. Paul was ranked number 4 (behind Eugene, OR; Austin, TX; Portland, OR), and Minneapolis number 19.

Some of these top urban areas leave a smaller ecological footprint than their suburban neighbors, reports the Green Guide. The tightly-packed nature of cities allows them to run more efficient public transportation and create a tax-base for green building and environmental programs that some smaller communities can't afford.

The full report is available for a fee at http://www.thegreenguide.com/

More

• Walking the Talk for Sustainability
  
• Peace Coffee
• Hamline kiosks
  
• Hotel (PDF of their food waste program)
• offsetting carbon emissions from travel
• buying green energy for the conference
• printing on recycled paper w/soy inks
• tote bags