| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53.50 |
| Liaison | Amy Kadrie |
| Submission Date | Jan. 31, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Rochester
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.88 / 6.00 |
Cameron
Schauf Director Dining Services |
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):
Vendors both approach and are approached by the University based on their sustainable practices and business ethics. UR carefully researches vendors to ensure their claims of sustainability are sound. Additionally, many vendors are organic certified by New York State. Our driving goal in purchasing is to find quality solutions first, from within New York State, and second, within a 250 mile radius of our campus. We feel that these tenets represent our responsibility to supporting our local economy and also afford us the freshest and highest quality products. Beyond that, we also work with local vendors to let their brands live on our campus. From local coffee roasters to sushi vendors to cheesecake and cookies, these local brands live on campus as they do in their own locations, educating our students about the surrounding area and encouraging them to develop a relationship with a local brand. For items like fish and seafood, rather than using our broadline provider exclusively, we have developed a relationship with a local partner that sources sustainably caught seafood and delivers it from catch to cook in 72 hours.
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):
Dining Services partners with its vendors to track each purchase, where the product was produced/ grown and manufactured. The vendors supply Dining Services with a pruchase report each semester breaking down the University's purchases by location, detailing where the product is from and how it is distributed. Dining Services uses this information to break down by category what is locally gown or manufactured. The University of Rochester just partnered with FarmLogix to help expedite and clean up the process. Their mission is similar to the University's and they have the ability to make the process easier for the University and supply greater detail. All products listed as Local and Community Based meet all three criteria (size, ownership, and distance) as described in this doc https://www.aashe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/STARS-2.1-Food-and-Beverage-Purchasing-Criteria.pdf.
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 | Yes |
| Convenience stores | Yes | Yes |
| Vending services | Yes | No |
| Concessions | Yes | No |
A brief description of purchased food and beverage products that have other sustainability attributes not recognized above :
Foods holding the following sustainability attributes that don't count for points: local, antibiotic free, non GMO, American Humane Certified, Woman Business Enterprise, Seafood Watch Good Alternative, Cage Free, CAFE, Minority Business Enterprise, Certified B-Corporation. This represents 27.8% of our total spend.
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.