Thompson Rivers University
OP-6: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Here is a sample of sustainable food and beverage purchases from TRU's three main food providers:
Culinary Arts program: Blackwell Dairy; Shuswap Coffee Co.; Sun River Organics; Ted's Trout; Pete Murray's Corn; Little Qualicum Cheese; Thistle Farm Organics; Dominion Creek Ranch; Raven Ridge; Mitchell Cattle Co..
Aramark: BC Red Potato; BC Russet Potato; Liquid Eggs ; Whole eggs (on occasion with catering); All Milk products (Blackwell Dairy (Kamloops) or Dairyland (BC)); Armstrong Chicken (on occasion for catering); Okanagan Apples (seasonal); Strawberries (seasonal); Armstrong Cheeses; Brie Cheese (Saputo); BC Hot House Tomato (seasonal); BC Carrots (seasonal); Chopped Romaine Lettuce (seasonal); Spring mix greens (seasonal); BC wild blueberries (seasonal); Blackberries (seasonal); Raspberries (seasonal); Cucumber (seasonal); Yellow Onion (seasonal); Green Onion (seasonal); Beef inside round (BC / Alberta); Highlander SeaFood (catering only); Wild Pacific Salmon (Washington, BC & Alaska coasts); Solo Bars; Starbucks Coffee; Seattle's Best Coffee.
All Common Grounds food supplied by Kamloops-based Rocky Mountain Catering.

TRU has three food and beverage operations on campus--Common Grounds (student run), The TRU Culinary Arts Program, and Aramark--and all of their expenditures were included in the figures provided. Here is a breif description of each of their sustainable food and beverage purchasing programs.
Common Grounds (description taken from their website): Common Grounds is your only student owned and operated coffee shop on campus striving for superior environmental and ethical standards. We offer fairly traded organic espresso, biodegradable cups and containers, living wages for student employees, and extended hours of service for when you need us most. Your coffee shop brews Bean Around the World coffees. These certified organic coffees are purchased directly from cooperatives and plantations, ensuring the highest level of equity for the plantation and compensation for the field worker. The beans are roasted within British Columbia to ensure you a fresh and rich flavour. Members can be proud of our high environmental standards. Our local coffee and soup cups are made from 100% renewable resources – not petroleum – and are compostable in as little as 45 days! Our biodegradable cutlery is made from GMO-free potato-based resins. And best of all, if you bring your own reusable mug, you get a 50¢ discount! Common Grounds food is provided by Rocky Mountain Catering, a locally based business led by a team of top-caliber chefs with international experience. We provide fresh options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to keep our members happily fed throughout the day. Common Grounds is committed to providing fair and flexible employment to students. Your Students’ Union is setting the example for employers by providing schedules based on your class schedule and a fair, living wage. Students also need affordable food service on campus. Being a service owned and operated by students allows Common Grounds to provide discounted prices while maintaining high quality. Our extended hours help members who are on campus all day have access to this great service. If you want high-quality, affordable food and coffee, provided at exceptional environmental and ethical standards, meet on Common Grounds! You can find us in the Students’ Union Building.
TRU Culinary Arts Program (http://www.tru.ca/act/culinary.html): Culinary Arts supports local and community-based vendors whenever possible and buys from many on a reguular basis especially when fresh produce is available durig the main growing months. Almost all meats used in the Retail Meat Processing part of the program is sourced from local suppliers. The Dean of the program was instrumental in developing the successful farm2chefs collaborative (http://www.farm2chefs.com/) which works by bringing local farms/ranches together with restaurants in order to see more local and sustianably produced food get from the farm to the consumer. Most beer and wine used in the Culinary Arts program is sourced from local providers. All coffee used is fairtrade and organic.
Aramark (in contract with TRU) (http://www.aramark.com/): Aramark accounts for the majority of food and beverage purchases at TRU (approximately 74%) and buys many local, community-based and/or third-party verified products, especially during the growin gseason when fresh produce is easily attainable. Due to its defined contract, however, it is often limited by price, supplier and other contractual obligations regarding its ability to buy from local, community-based and/or third-party verified vendors. As the largest food provider on campus (including largest caterer), Aramark buys a lot of coffee, most of which is certified fairtrade and organic.
Although still an idea in concept, Aramark at TRU is interested in pursuing the implementation of a Green Tread program somehow within its operations. (From the Aramark website: "Green Thread™ was introduced in 2008 by ARAMARK and is a brand that encompasses a range of environmental stewardship programs and practices that can be offered to our clients. Green Thread™ allows ARAMARK to efficiently customize an environmental strategy that educates and engages consumers in environmental practices that extend from our on-site operations to opportunities at home for the entire family". http://www.aramark.com/PressRoom/PressReleases/Sustainability-To-Go.aspx).

The managers of the three TRU food and beverage operations were asked to supply a list of all food and beverage purchases that met the criteria of 'local, community-based and/or third-party verified'.

The TRU Culinary Arts program is certified under the Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise program - http://www.oceanwise.ca/

All figures are in Canadian dollars.