Sodexo to Customers: Eat Low on the Food Chain for Earth Day

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) GAITHERSBURG, Md. - April 20, 2010 - Choosing just one all plant-based meal on April 22 could make a big difference to the planet. So says Sodexo, Inc., a leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions, who is asking its 10 million U.S. customers to eat low on the food chain this Earth Day. To inspire the change, Sodexo chefs are cooking up new ways to serve the classic peanut butter and jelly combination. 

Environmental advocates estimate that Sodexo’s PB&J For A Day campaign could save 1.3 billion gallons of water, 12,400 tons of carbon emissions and about 5,500 acres of land if all of the 10 million served daily by Sodexo choose one plant-based meal. 

Customers at Sodexo-served college campuses, corporate cafés, hospitals, and senior residences will be given the option to choose a plant-based protein meal on Earth Day in the fun form of creative peanut-butter and jelly cuisine. Sodexo’s Earth Day menu choices will include: Fluffer Nutter Club Sandwich, Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana with Chocolate Chips, Toasted Peanut Butter Baguettes with Jelly Dipping Sauce, Peanut Butter Pancakes with Jelly Syrup, and for dessert customers can try the PB&J Sweet Shot or a PB&J Muffin. You can find the recipes and cooking demonstration videos online.

For this campaign, Sodexo is partnering with the PB&J Campaign, a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE). The PB&J Campaign approaches positive change one meal at a time by illuminating the differences one single dining decision can make. Eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of a hamburger for a simple reason: one sandwich can save 133 gallons of water and 24 square feet of land over a burger, and each one served will save 2.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, which is the same benefit as driving a hybrid car for half a day. 

The company recently announced broad and detailed commitments for sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The Better Tomorrow Plan adds a global approach to Sodexo's continuing commitment to improving the quality of daily life for customers in three key areas of the environment, health and wellness, and community development.

Sodexo in North America
Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), a member of Sodexo Group, is a leading provider of Comprehensive Service Solutions serving more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care, retirement, schools, higher education, government and remote sites. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., Sodexo, Inc. operates in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with $7.7 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. The Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org) is an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $12.7 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions
Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations.  Based on this conviction, Sodexo is the strategic partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and well-being, as it has since Pierre Bellon founded the company in 1966. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo's 380,000 employees, in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivaled range of On-site Service Solutions and Motivation Solutions. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates and to the fulfillment of its employees. 

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