Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 63.29
Liaison Samuel Crowl
Submission Date Feb. 20, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Ohio University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.79 / 6.00 Erin Robb
Purchasing Specialist
Dining Services
"---" 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:
15

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

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.


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):

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.


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 No No
Student-run food/catering services Yes No
Franchises (e.g. national or global brands) No 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 :
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Additional percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures on conventional products with other sustainability attributes not recognized above (0-100) :
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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:

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.


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.

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.