| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.59 |
| Liaison | Victor Udo |
| Submission Date | Sept. 23, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Bucknell University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.94 / 6.00 |
Percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures on products that are third party verified under one or more recognized food and beverage sustainability standards or Local & Community-Based:
Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on conventional animal products)? (If data is not available, respond “No”):
Percentage of total dining services food and beverage expenditures on conventional animal products (meat, poultry, fish/seafood, eggs, and dairy products that do NOT qualify in either the Third Party Verified or Local & Community-Based category):
A brief description of the sustainable food and beverage purchasing program, including how the sustainability impacts of products in specific categories are addressed (e.g. meat, poultry, fish/seafood, eggs, dairy, produce, tea/coffee):
Bucknell dining utilizes Parkhurst's Director of Sourcing as well as our on-site management team to identify and approve sources of locally grown or manufactured food product. We apply our "purchasing philosophy" guidelines and "Gold Standards" to sourcing the maximum amount of local produce while in season, soon to be augmented by produce from the campus farm. As far as animal protein is concerned, we utilize suppliers that are as local as possible with only therapeutic antibiotic use and meeting humane treatment guidelines. We also follow Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch or MSC guidance on seafood purchases.
For accounting purposes, only items that are USDA Organic, non-GMO, Rainforest Alliance, and Humane Certified are included. Items that are non-GMO are only included if they are also USDA Organic/non-GMO items.
An inventory of the institution’s sustainable food and beverage purchases that includes for each product: the description/type; label, brand or producer; and the category in which it is being counted and/or a description of its sustainability attribute(s):
A brief description of the methodology used to conduct the inventory, including the timeframe and how representative samples accounted for seasonal variation (if applicable):
Inventory represents tracked purchases for the 2018-19 academic year cycle. Seasonal levels of produce fluctuate depending on supply.
Percentage of total dining services expenditures on Real Food A (0-100):
Percentage of total dining services expenditures on Real Food B (0-100):
Which of the following food service providers are present on campus and included in the total food and beverage expenditure figures?:
| Present? | Included? | |
| Dining operations and catering services operated by the institution | No | --- |
| Dining operations and catering services operated by a contractor | Yes | Yes |
| Student-run food/catering services | No | --- |
| Franchises (e.g. national or global brands) | No | --- |
| Convenience stores | Yes | Yes |
| Vending services | Yes | No |
| Concessions | Yes | Yes |
A brief description of purchased food and beverage products that have other sustainability attributes not recognized above :
Bucknell has many food products that are Gestation Grate Free and rBST certified. They are NOT included as third party certified in this report. I strongly urge AASHE to allow third party certifications not on the preapproved list to be counted. Additionally, approximately 21% of the total spend should be countable as local and community based. These may or may not satisfy the STARS definition. However, it is unrealistic to provide the justification for every line item.
Additional percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures on conventional products with other sustainability attributes not recognized above (0-100) :
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Based on Bucknell's internal definition, 28% of the products should be considered third party verified or local and community based. Unfortunately, STARS only allows a specific list of third party verification to be included. Consequently, only USDA Organic, non-GMO/USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Humane Certified are counted for this report. Also, for local and community based items, they require that the location, ownership structure and size of the company be provided for every single item on the inventory. This is unduly onerous requirement and was not pursued.
Based on Bucknell's internal definition, 28% of the products should be considered third party verified or local and community based. Unfortunately, STARS only allows a specific list of third party verification to be included. Consequently, only USDA Organic, non-GMO/USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Humane Certified are counted for this report. Also, for local and community based items, they require that the location, ownership structure and size of the company be provided for every single item on the inventory. This is unduly onerous requirement and was not pursued.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.