Bon Appétit’s East Coast Fellow Carolina Fojo gave a lecture Thursday entitled “The Story Behind The Food” about Wesleyan’s dining program, as well as the company’s devotion to environmental and social awareness. Fojo explained that Bon Appétit centers their programs on flavor, sustainability, and socially responsible practices.

The event was well attended by students interested in University food offerings. Sophie Massey ’15 said that listening to the lecture made her feel better about Bon Appétit’s practices.

“[Prior to this event] I was only hearing the things that we can do to improve, but I didn’t know that they were as good as it is,” Massey said.

Zach Burns ’14 said he thinks that it is important to know the moral and environmental implications of our diet, and has recently realized that many intelligent students on campus have no sense of the impact of some habits like consuming meat. However, he was frustrated by the way Bon Appétit presented itself.

“I appreciate that we have a food company that’s working on these issues, but the event was a little too promotional for Bon Appétit,” Burns said. “It was sort of like an advertisement as opposed to an honest lecture.”

Wesleyan Student Assembly Dining Committee member Melody Oliphant ’13 thinks that the event was worthwhile, pertaining to how Bon Appétit functions and the initiatives they support, but felt that the students who would benefit most were not present.

“I think that it did fall short in reaching a critical audience who remains oblivious to sustainability issues on campus, especially with our food system,” she said.

Fojo spoke about Bon Appétit’s efforts to be environmentally sustainable and not contribute to problems caused by the current food industry practices. According to Fojo, some examples of Bon Appétit’s policies are the use of cage-free eggs, the exclusion of meat from animals whose diet includes antibiotics, support for worker’s rights, and the Farm to Fork program, which buys local food. Wesleyan’s annual purchases are 20 percent local, and Fojo said Bon Appétit strives to use responsible business practices for products not available locally.

“You’re not going to get bananas that are local,” Fojo said. “So if you want to eat 100 percent local, don’t eat bananas. At the same time, though, I believe you can do things well without doing them perfectly. Eating a banana from time to time doesn’t make you against regional food.”

Fojo’s main goals in her presentation were to raise awareness about how Bon Appétit is working on certain food issues and to strengthen the relationship between the company and students, emphasizing the potential for partnerships between the two.

“If students start an on-campus garden and then they start selling to Bon Appétit, we’re getting local food, which is fabulous, and the students are growing their vegetables and raising awareness about food,” Fojo said. “That kind of relationship is great.”

Bon Appétit has been the University’s food service provider since 2007, when Wesleyan severed its partnership with Aramark. Bon Appétit Resident District Manager Michael Strumpf said that the sustainable practices Bon Appétit enforces are more expensive, but that Bon Appétit’s dining budget has stayed on track for the past four years. Strumpf acknowledged that though Bon Appétit’s mission may not match the goals of every potential client, they fit well with the University’s priorities.

“We’re not for everybody,” Strumpf said. “It just fits right into where [Wesleyan students] think and what you want to see happen in the future.”

Oliphant, who provides an environmental perspective within the Dining Committee, also values the relationship between students and Bon Appétit. She believes that Bon Appétit is incredibly supportive of students who wish to bring up a sustainability initiative.

“The initiatives that they implement are not things that are in their job description,”  Oliphant said. “It’s not something that they have to do for students.”