Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.16
Liaison Kylee Singh
Submission Date Sept. 19, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California Polytechnic State University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.27 / 6.00 Kaitlin Gibbons
Sustainability Coordinator
Campus Dining
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:
5

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on conventional animal products)? (If data is not available, respond “No”):
Yes

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):
42

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):

As one of the largest commercial services at Cal Poly, Campus Dining strives to lessen the university's environmental impact with programs, products and services that reduce the campus's overall ecological "foodprint". Our sustainability efforts are focused around four key areas: food sustainability, waste stream management, water and energy conservation, and green buildings and transportation.
A key strategy in providing sustainable food is buying local. It keeps money in the local economy, preserves family farms, reduces oil-dependent transportation costs, protects our local landscapes, and ensures fresh and healthy food stays available and affordable for all. Campus Dining is proud to support numerous local farms and artisans, including more than 100 local, organic and sustainable products throughout campus, including Cal Poly produced products. We also offer numerous USDA Certified Organic products in our campus markets.
Campus Dining works with suppliers of cage-free eggs. This practice allows hens to walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests, improving the animal’s welfare, food safety and long-term sustainability.
In alignment with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, Campus Dining strives to follow the standards for purchasing sustainably sourced seafood. That is, choosing seafood that's fished or farmed in ways that support a healthy ocean, now and for future generations.
Campus Dining partners with suppliers who provide certified sustainable coffees. This practice ensures that fair trade and other eco-certified coffee is readily available on campus.


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):

The STARS Food and Beverage Product Classification Guide (v2.1.1) was used to determine the food and beverage percentage above using 2017-2018 data.


Percentage of total dining services expenditures on Real Food A (0-100):
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Percentage of total dining services expenditures on Real Food B (0-100):
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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 Yes Yes
Dining operations and catering services operated by a contractor Yes Yes
Student-run food/catering services No No
Franchises (e.g. national or global brands) Yes Yes
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 :

We source from many local vendors that do not qualify as "Local & Community based" either because they gross > $5 million per year or because they do not source all ingredients locally. These vendors include our bakery purveyor Edna's Bakery, several local wineries, coffee roasters, and other small vendors that service our on-campus markets.


Additional percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures on conventional products with other sustainability attributes not recognized above (0-100) :
6.50

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.