ARAMARK offers locally-grown food on Thursdays
The Laboratory cafeteria is going even greener. Until the end of the growing season, ARAMARK Corp., which operates the Otowi Building cafeteria, is putting produce grown in New Mexico farmers’ markets on its menu every Thursday.
“Our goal is to support local small businesses and be environmentally friendly by offering locally-grown food,” said ARAMARK food services director Vance Boone.
The initiative began last Thursday as part of the Lab’s celebration of Earth Day. ARAMARK offered farmer’s market produce, such as fresh asparagus, spinach, and Swiss chard. “We plan to add more fruits and vegetables as the weather gets warmer and there’s greater variety,” Boone said. “We’re making sure that the farmer’s market produce is certified as organic and is approved by the United States Department of Agriculture.”
Angelica Gurule of the Risk Reduction Office (ENV-RRO) manned a booth outside the cafeteria to explain ARAMARK’s project to employees. “This is very exciting news,” she said of the company’s green initiatives. “ARAMARK has taken leaps and bounds to become more environmentally friendly.”
Last year, the company switched from Styrofoam take-out boxes to bamboo clamshells, she said. “This is a big effort on ARAMARK's behalf, because the clamshells cost five times more than the conventional polystyrene.”
Boone said he couldn’t have made the changes without the Lab’s support. “It’s a huge cost difference for us, but the Lab has been very supportive financially,” he said.
Lab employees also have supported ARAMARK's efforts. “Angelica, Jennifer Nisengard, Marjorie Wright all of ENV-RRO, and Monica Witt of Hazardous Materials Waste Operations, WDP-HMWO have supported our recycling program and come up with many other environmentally-friendly ideas,” Boone said.
Registered dietitian Marta Gentry Munger of Occupational Medicine (OM-OMO) contributed information on green nutrition. “She sent me articles on the Slow Food movement and on healthy recipes,” he said.
Boone added that ARAMARK employees helped him all the way. “I deeply appreciate their hard work and dedication,” he said.
“I am very pleased with the efforts ARAMARK has made, and now it's up to the customer to make the right choice,” Gurule said. Boone agreed, adding, “One problem we have noticed is customers choose take-out boxes, yet they stay and eat at the cafeteria. We encourage customers to choose china ware because this reduces waste, saves resources, and minimizes unnecessary costs.”
For more information, contact Boone at boone-vance@aramark.com or Gurule at 7-6711 or agurule@lanl.gov by e-mail.
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