Ohio University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Culinary Services has made the sourcing of local food a primary consideration when bidding several key commodities. The milk and fresh meat bids have been awarded to companies that source many products from within 250 miles of the Athens campus. The combined total of local milk, eggs and fresh meat expenditures was approximately $788K in fiscal year 2017. Culinary Services also partners with local farmers to source seasonal produce. Combined yearly purchases from these local producers total approximately $40K per year. In addition to the above-mentioned partnerships, Culinary Services strives to incorporate local food from other producers whenever possible. This includes sourcing local food for board dining operations, and offering pre-packaged local food options in our 19 retail operations. These expenditures add another $60K per year to our local food spend. In additional to focusing on food that is grown/harvested/produced within 250 miles of campus, Culinary Service has launched the Uniquely Ohio campaign which highlights products from local businesses within our retail venues. Culinary Services also partners with Silver Bridge Coffee, which is locally produced and is a member of Fair Trade USA. The University spends approximately $29K a year on fair trade coffee from Silver Bridge.

In 2016-17 Culinary Services developed a local food tracking method that calculates total yearly spend down to the individual line item. Per the Ohio University Sustainably Plan, local food is defined as food that is grown/harvested/produced within 250 miles of the Athens Campus. Food that is merely packaged, manufactured, or sold, within that radius is not counted as “local food.” Culinary Services staff work closely with vendors to identify which of their individual products meet this definition of “local.” Those items are then compiled in to master list, and total spend for each item is calculated quarterly. The master list of local items is updated once per year.

Sustainable practices and an environmental mindset aren’t simply ideals for Culinary Services – they are a way of life. Our entire team is eager to continue to further our environmental commitments in the coming years through a combination of student, faculty and staff input, planned venue renovations, proactive alliances with outside vendors to source sustainable, environmentally friendly items and other cooperative outreach projects. Most data, including FY17 dining operations local spend, was provided by Erin Robb, though compilation of Local and Community-Based inventory information for dining operations was completed by Benton Wright, Reporting Assistant in the Office of Sustainability. Total FY17 spend for the dining operations is listed on the Culinary Services website, https://www.ohio.edu/food/about/Sustainability.cfm. Only meat, eggs and dairy local purchases were included in the percentage calculation for FY17 local dining operations food spend. Student-run food/catering services and convenience store spend information was not available for this analysis.