Bloomberg Shifts Workplace Menus to Focus on Plant-Based Foods

This week, software and media brand Bloomberg announced it would shift its workplace menus away from animal products to uphold its commitment to the Cool Food Pledge (CFP). The CFP is an initiative created last year by a cooperative of environmental groups, including World Resources Institute (WRI) and UN Environment, to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030 through promoting plant-based foods within the food-service industry. In 2018, Bloomberg purchased 473 tons of food—72 percent of which came from animal-based sources—resulting in 15,140 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Moving forward, Bloomberg will work with its food service provider Sodexo to change the menus at its New York and New Jersey offices—which employ 11,000 people—to incorporate more plant-based options and completely take meat off the menus on Mondays. “Sustainability sits at the core of our business operations. At Bloomberg we continually seek out innovative ways to power our business with renewable energy, lower our emissions, and reduce waste. By signing on to the Cool Food Pledge we are making the commitment to reducing our food provision-related GHG emissions,” Beth Mazzeo, Bloomberg Chief Administrative Officer, said. “Incorporating more sustainable, plant-based food options into our menus is a great opportunity to meet the evolving palates and dietary needs of our employees and guests. It is also a critical step in reducing agriculture’s pressure on the climate.” The founding cohort of CFP signatories includes companies such as Morgan Stanley, California Academy of Sciences, Monde Nissin, UCLA Health, and WeWork—which announced in 2018 that it would no longer pay for employee meals that contained meat. In addition to Bloomberg, Harvard University, Hilton Hotels, and IKEA have also committed to the CFP. “Agriculture accounts for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions globally. To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, people have to eat differently. It’s that simple,” WRI Director Daniel Vennard said. “The groups signed on to the Cool Food Pledge are showing that dining is where sustainability efforts come alive. It’s incredibly exciting because the potential impact is huge.”