Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.82
Liaison Stephanie MacPhee
Submission Date Jan. 7, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Dalhousie University
OP-6: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.27 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures that are local and community-based and/or third party verified:

A copy of an inventory, list or sample of sustainable food and beverage purchases:
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An inventory, list or sample of sustainable food and beverage purchases:
Dalhousie campus food offerings include Aramark, Chartwells, University Club and Dalhousie Graduate House. A sample list of sustainable food and beverage vendors are listed below: Just Us Coffee - Coffee, tea Farmer's - Dairy Chapman - Dairy Atlantic Beef - Beef Highliner - Seafood Stone Hearth Bakery - Bread Van Meekeran Farms - Fruits and Vegetables Vermeulen Farms - Fruits and Vegetables Chef's Garden ( on campus garden) Maritime Pride Eggs - Animal products Fisher's Market - Seafood Mike Oulton's Meat - Animal products Cavicchi Meats - Animal products Fancy Lebanese Bakery - 24 Carrots - Bread River View Herbs - Fruits and vegetables

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (food and beverage expenditures for on-site franchises, convenience stores, vending services, or concessions)?:
Yes

Percentage of on-site franchise, convenience store, vending services, and concessions food and beverage purchases that are local and community-based and/or third party verified:

A copy of an inventory, list or sample of on-site franchise, convenience store, vending machine, and/or concessions food and beverage purchases that are sustainably produced:
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An inventory, list or sample of on-site franchise, convenience store, vending machine, and/or concessions food and beverage purchases that are sustainably produced:
Retail (Aramark) : Vending: We offer Fair Trade Cadbury Dairy Milk Bars in each vending machine. Just Us Coffee Shop: All Fair Trade Coffee and Tea, Fair Trade Chocolate bars, Local apples year round, Local produce when available. All non-franchised Coffee Shops: All Fair Trade Coffee, Minimum Fair Trade Teas, Fair Trade chocolate bar option, Local apples year round, Local produce when available. Second Cup Coffee Shops: Offer the one Fair Trade coffee, Cuzco, option every day, Fair Trade chocolate bar option, Local apples year round, Local produce when available. Grad House: ALL beef and pork is local (pepperoni, Montreal smoked beef, ham, shoulder bacon - Sweet William’s, Farmers’ Market), baguette is local (ACE) as well as basil (Riverview Herbs, Farmers’ Market) and vegetables when in season (tomatoes, parsley, onions, red peppers, mushrooms - Farmers’ Market). All coffee is locally roasted, fair trade and organic (Laughing Whale Coffee Roasters), All tea is from Traditional Medicinals (Fair-trade, Non GMO Project verified, organic), Just Us! (Fair-trade, organic) and Four O’Clock (Fair-trade, organic).

A brief description of the sustainable food and beverage purchasing program:
Farm to Table by Food Services (Aramark) at Dalhousie : Seasonal Menus: Changing our menus with the season allows us to increase the amount of local produce offered on our menus year round, Cutting our own French Fries from local potatoes in all four dining halls year round and Offering local apples only at all of our dining locations across campus. Food Services at Dalhousie sources food from many local farmers, growers and distributors. The list changes throughout the year depending on seasonality and availability. A huge part of our Farm to Table program are Farm Tours and Field Research. Each year our team visits several local farmers and during the semesters we invite these same farmers into our dining halls to meet the Dalhousie community. Sustainable Fish: Working with Dalhousie’s Office of Sustainability we have developed a sustainable seafood purchasing program. In September 2014 our dining halls served sustainable haddock, cod, scallops, shrimp, mussels, salmon, and tilapia. Last year we served sustainable haddock, scallops, shrimp, and mussels. Find more information here on Aramark sustainable food and beverage purchasing program at dalhousie: http://www.campusdish.com/en-us/ca/dalhousie/sustainability Chartwells on the Agricultural campus: have a number of programs including using produce from the on-campus gardens and providing fair trade beverages. http://www.dineoncampus.ca/ac/dining-plan-info

A brief description of the methodology used to track/inventory sustainable food and beverage purchases:
Each year food contractors at Dalhousie request that suppliers provide a purchase report. Research on food vendors was carried out together with the dollar amount provided by food contractors. Using a spreadsheet, the food purchases data was analysed by commodity groups and estimates of local and community based, and third party certified were arrived at. The definition of small to medium based enterprise (1-499 employees) as provided by the Government of Canada was used in assessing community-based food and beverage purchases.

Total annual food and beverage expenditures:
US/Canadian $

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 No
Dining operations and catering services operated by a contractor Yes Yes
Franchises Yes Yes
Convenience stores No No
Vending services Yes Yes
Concessions No No

Has the institution achieved the following?:
Yes or No
Fair Trade Campus, College or University status No
Certification under the Green Seal Standard for Restaurants and Food Services (GS-46) No
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification Yes
Signatory of the Real Food Campus Commitment (U.S.) No

A brief description of other sustainable restaurant and food service standards that the institution’s dining services operations are certified under:
Aramark Food kitchens on Dalhousie campuses are MSC certified.

The website URL where information about the institution's sustainable food and beverage purchasing efforts is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Dalhousie University is exploring Fair Trade campus certification

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.