Soka University of America
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Our produce and groceries are supplied by LA Specialty, which sources from various farms, some of which qualify as Farm to Fork. They also supply us with certified humane eggs. All tea and coffee is Rainforest Alliance Certified and/or Certified Organic, supplied by Groundworks Coffee and Numi Tea. The bulk of our liquid dairy milk is from Hollandia, a local dairy supplier. Fish and seafood come from Santa Monica Seafood, a distributor that uses the Monterey Seafood Watch rating system to score their individual products. The scores are displayed on our invoices so that we know the sustainability impact of our seafood purchases. Most of our meat and animal products are supplied by Sysco and Newport Meat, both of which are large distributors, although we do source some beef from a local cattle rancher and are looking to increase our percentage of locally sourced animal products. Lastly, we supply specialty products from various local suppliers, such as tofu from Meiji Tofu based in Los Angeles and pastries from Rossmoor Bakery in Signal Hill.

We measured spending on qualifying products by examining invoices during two representative months, March 2017 and October 2016, to account for seasonal variation.

Through Bon Appetit, we purchase products categorized as Farm to Fork, which include small farms and producers from within 150 miles of the Bon Appetit kitchen, or mid-sized producers of animal products from within 500 miles or less and third party humane certified. Bon Appetit requires chefs to have at least 20% of their total purchases be from Farm to Fork qualifying suppliers. We also participate in the Imperfectly Delicious produce program, which works with farmers, distributors, and chefs to purchase cosmetically challenged fruits and vegetables that otherwise would have been discarded.