Bon Appetit takes a week to promote health and sustainability through food

This week, Bon Appetit wants to educate the Penn community about sustainability, nutrition and where its food comes from — while allowing attendees to eat their way through each event.

Penn kicked off its annual Food Week on Oct. 20 with Scratch, an event co-sponsored by Bon Appetit and the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative that promoted healthy, more affordable eating options for students.

AUNI is a community partner organization on campus that works with 25 schools in the West Philadelphia area, College senior and Director of Student Leadership at AUNI Kerena Thomas said. The group’s mission is to promote a model of making nutritious, easy and affordable health decisions to other students and community members.

Executive Chef of Hill College House’s dining hall Donald Stauffer advocated for such a nutritious lifestyle throughout the event with a cooking demonstration, during which he prepared small dishes such as guacamole and hummus that students can cook in their dorm rooms or small apartments.

During the presentation, he discussed the importance of healthy eating on campus. The most difficult part about eating healthy is “knowing what foods to look for and how to use these foods in your diet,” Stauffer said. Bon Appetit at Penn makes all of the dining hall food from scratch to avoid unnecessary preservatives that are very common in the foodservice industry, Senior Fellow for Bon Appetit Nicole Tocco said.

College and Wharton senior Rachel Libfraind was motivated to attend the event by her interest in healthy lifestyle choices and cooking. “I was really surprised how dedicated Bon Appetit is to cooking things from scratch and making the dining halls healthier,” Libfraind said.

Tonight , Food Week will continue with the presentation of local photographer Jacques-Jean Tiziou’s artwork and discussion of farm labor laws in the United States. A full schedule can be found on the Penn Dining website, and all events will feature free food.

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