As a tech company focused on 'hospitality' and 'belonging', I wasn't surprised to find out that Airbnb offers a prime food program for its employees that many tech companies globally use as a reference for their own food program.







This podcast clocks in at around 37 minutes. You can also listen to it on iTunes, stream on Spotify or grab the RSS feed in your player of choice. So head out for a walk and let McKenzie and I keep you company. Prefer to read the transcripts? Scroll down.







But if food is just a perk—see free lunch and snacks—that more and more organizations are offering, what’s so unique about it that so many tech companies worldwide get inspired by it? Why is there a strategy behind a food program? And how to feed a growing population of employees without breaking the bank?



As the Global Food Strategy Manager, McKenzie Phelan is in charge of the food strategy that focuses on employee experience, oversees how the food program is executed in Airbnb's offices globally and makes sure that the program serves up the company’s core values around the globe. 



McKenzie Phelan: Global Food Strategy Manager at Airbnb



McKenzie joins me in this very first episode of The Nourishing Workplace, where we discussed everything from what it means to create a food program that does much more than “feeding employees” to how to prevent food waste and educate your people about the challenges and threats of the current food system.



Key Takeaways



Short on time? Here are four quick takeaways:



The global food strategy team is a two-person team: McKenzie and her colleague Meghan. Their job is to make sure that the food experience at Airbnb has both continuity and some parity between offices. They focus on three main aspects: 1. Maintaining the ethos of the food program so that food isn’t seen as a utility but as a conduit for culture in the workplace. 2. Refining their sourcing ethos to procure the best food that's been raised and distributed most ethically. 3. Developing waste strategies and engaging Airbnb employees around the topic of food.At the genesis of the Airbnb food program, the food team was fully a part of the company. As the company grew, the food team grew in tandem and became necessary to think about how to reduce the resources for it. That's why the food team was outsourced to Bon Appétit Management.Airbnb's core business is all about hospitality and belonging. Therefore, the food philosophy is embedded in that of the brand. They look strategically for moments where there can be resonance between the Airbnb product and the products of the food team, which is the food. They do so by (re)designing menus and food spaces.McKenzie argues that more companies should take climate consciousness more seriously and integr