| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.42 |
| Liaison | Dayna Cook |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Northern Arizona University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.00 / 6.00 |
Catherine
Sullivan Sustainability Specialist: NAU Campus Dining NAU Dining |
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):
Through our, Arizona produces distributors (Stern’s and for a time FreshPoint) Sodexo has been able to increase the amount of Arizona and locally grown produce and products served on campus. Further efforts of creating direct vendor relationships with local Flagstaff businesses has benefited the local economy and connected students with the Flagstaff community. Overall Sodexo’s effort to increase food transparency and improve sourcing has forged greater relationships with farmers and locally businesses. Accomplishments include sourcing Flagstaff made bread through Village Baker, hot sauces, and tortillas through Rising Hy and The Tortilla Lady a business owned by a recent NAU Alumni. Our campaign, Real Food. Real People. provides a platform to communicate our sourcing practices and how we have increased the transparency of where our produce is being grown in Arizona. Securing produce from Crooked Sky Farms and Duncan Family Farm through our distributors is a major success to offer local and organic produce. Featured at the Open Air Markets, seasonal specialty menus and within the Sustainable Catering guide. Bella Pasta, Shamrock Dairy, and Mission tortilla are all Arizona made/grown products we source daily. Procurement of local food is challenging, and in a high elevation alpine desert climate, the ability to source locally is even greater. Past partnerships with the Bilby Research Greenhouse allows for on campus has grown produce to be used on site was a major step in creating the Turnip the Greens hydroponic wall for on campus lettuce production. NAU Campus Dining focuses on sourcing local, seasonal and sustainably grown products when available. NAU Campus Dining defines local as farmers within the same state or geographic region. In contracts with local produce distributors, we require that they source from local farms whenever possible for the quantities and seasonal freshness needed. November to March is the time frame in which Arizona grown produce is in season, and we use the highest percentage of locally grown products. We work to incorporate seasonally available produce into menus our events in resident dining, as well as those for special catering events and highlight limited time, offered options at the Green Scene Cafe that is a sustainability focused eatery.
Other purchases that are sustainable are our beverage purchases of Aspretto fair-trade coffee and teas which include organic and fair trade Numi tea. We provide a variety of organic, fair-trade certified and sustainably raised/produced food items in two convenience stores on campus. Campus Dining also serves organic and fair-trade coffees from Intelligentsia, Jazzman’s and Starbucks. We have introduced “fruit-infused” water stations in both resident dining halls to encourage consumption of water as opposed to sugary and processed beverages. We follow guidelines in place based on Sodexo’s commitment to sustainably sourced fish and seafood through the Marine Stewardship Council or the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices Program and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch “Best Choice”. Organic and local foods are procured when economically and seasonally feasible and highlighted within resident dining and retail locations as well. Sodexo is committed to serving cage-free shell eggs, and NAU has been purchasing cage-free eggs since the summer of 2012.
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):
Campus Dining has no formal method in place to track the sustainable food and beverage purchases, but have begun to develop baseline measurements of through analysis of invoices and to rely in part on vendor third-party certifications. Students have embarked on the Real Food Challenge calculator to complete a baseline measurement. With the development and approval of the NAU Campus Dining Sustainability Food Policy, a baseline measurement will be established.
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 | No |
| 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 | No |
| Convenience stores | Yes | No |
| Vending services | Yes | No |
| Concessions | Yes | No |
A brief description of purchased food and beverage products that have other sustainability attributes not recognized above :
Without a formal method for tracking sustainable food and beverage purchases the inventory attached outlines purchases from an Arizona producer, Sterns. The inventory includes local purchases produced within 250 miles though Sterns is not a community based company.
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:
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.