Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.23
Liaison Heather Albert-Knopp
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2022

STARS v2.2

College of the Atlantic
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.25 / 6.00 Andrea Russell
Sustainability Coordinator and Community Energy Center Program Manager
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"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Percentage of total annual food and beverage expenditures on products that are sustainably or ethically produced:
25.24

Percentage of total annual food and beverage expenditures on plant-based foods:
57.70

An inventory of food and beverage purchases that qualify as sustainably/ethically produced:
A brief description of the methodology used to conduct the inventory, including the timeframe and how representative samples accounted for seasonal variation (if applicable):

Work-study students track all food purchase receipts and enter each product into a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet denotes which products are local, organic, fair trade, and humane (components of "real food" as determined by the Real Food Challenge). The COA Foodprint class also participates in auditing our institutional food purchasing and analyzing this data.


Website URL where the institution’s validated Real/Good Food Calculator results are publicly posted:
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Which of the following food service providers are present on campus and included in the inventory/assessment?:
Present? Included?
Dining operations and catering services operated by the institution Yes Yes
Dining operations and catering services operated by a contractor No No
Student-run food/catering services No No
Franchises (e.g., regional or global brands) No No
Convenience stores No No
Vending services No No
Concessions No No

Total annual dining services budget for food and beverage products:
Less than $500,000

A brief description of the institution’s sustainable food and beverage purchasing program:

Mission and Vision:
COA Dining Services is committed to providing high quality, healthy, delicious and predominantly hand‐prepared meals, incorporating the use of local and organic food products whenever possible. We offer affordable meals at Blair Dining Hall and Sea Urchin Café during the week and provide catering for college events, meetings, and celebrations. Dining Services are a vital part of the COA community and we want to promote healthy selections to support a healthy lifestyle. By considering the environmental, social, economic and political impacts of food, we are able to prepare meals that promote the values of the college while remaining committed to providing excellent and responsive service. We strive to be a center for food education and experiential learning for the COA community and beyond.
COA is among the inaugural signers of the Real Food Campus Commitment, pledging that 20% of our food will be from organic, fair trade, and local sources by 2020. COA met and exceeded that pledge in 2018, with nearly 30% of COA food sourced in the described manner and considered “real” by commitment standards.


Website URL where information about the food and beverage purchasing program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

All dining services are operated by College of the Atlantic: The College does not have franchises, convenience stores, vending services, or concessions on campus. Therefore, we do not separate the purchases of on-site franchises, convenience stores, vending services, and concessions as they are subdivided in this section.

Data are from Fiscal Year 2018: College of the Atlantic intended to conduct an updated food purchasing inventory during the summer 2020. Due to the pandemic, the Summer Energy Fellow program did not run in 2020 or 2021, and therefore completion of the food inventory was temporarily put on hold until the program can resume.


All dining services are operated by College of the Atlantic: The College does not have franchises, convenience stores, vending services, or concessions on campus. Therefore, we do not separate the purchases of on-site franchises, convenience stores, vending services, and concessions as they are subdivided in this section.

Data are from Fiscal Year 2018: College of the Atlantic intended to conduct an updated food purchasing inventory during the summer 2020. Due to the pandemic, the Summer Energy Fellow program did not run in 2020 or 2021, and therefore completion of the food inventory was temporarily put on hold until the program can resume.

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.