Hungry for Incentive Travel October 08, 2008 RockResorts launches the "Appetite for Life" program
By Jeanie Casison
Sustainable cuisine is on the menu at each of the properties that are part of the RockResorts collection. The Broomfield, Colorado based luxury hotel company, and wholly owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, recently launched "Appetite for Life," a promising new initiative that promotes healthy eating through the use of local and regional, organic and sustainable ingredients across all food and beverage operations, including its restaurants, room service, special events, meetings and conferences.
"Appetite for Life definitely keeps with how we operate our properties. We have resorts and hotels that are in beautiful and natural settings. Since we are promoting healthy lifestyles with skiing and outdoor locations, food and nutrition plays into that. We want to embrace the opportunity to offer exceptional experiences by giving guests healthy food choices," says Julie Klein, director of Environmental Affairs for RockResorts.
While culinary creations will vary across the different resorts, guests can expect such program standards as the use sustainable seafood and fish, the elimination of all artificial trans fats, the serving of 100 percent certified Serena Organic Starbucks coffee and the Fair Trade certified Café Estima Blend, among other features.
Those behind the kitchen at the RockResorts properties are approaching Appetite for Life with gusto. For example, the staff cooks at The Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado not only use vegetables and herbs grown in the gardens on property, they donate used cooking oil to a local potter who uses it to fire up his kilns. Chefs at the Keystone Lodge & Spa in Colorado and at La Posada de Santa Fe in New Mexico, turn to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program and Seafood Choices Alliance for expert guidance when it comes to their seafood selections. In St. Lucia, The Landings, A RockResort partners with the St. Lucia Organic Farmers Co-operative to secure fresh ingredients.
In the coming months, watch out for even more enhancements to the Appetite for Life program including the offering of organic and biodynamic wines, the introduction of biodegradable and compostable containers, paper goods and flatware and the launch of community food donation programs.
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