Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 59.78
Liaison Joseph Wasylycia-Leis
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Winnipeg
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.12 / 6.00 Ian Vickers
Chief Operating Officer
Diversity Food Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

This credit requires:

  • A completed STARS Food and Beverage Purchasing Inventory
  • An itemized inventory based on output from the Real Food Calculator, or
  • An alternative inventory that includes for each product:
    • Product vendor
    • Product label/brand
    • Product description
    • The category in which the product qualifies (Third Party Verified or Local & Community Based)
    • Information justifying inclusion: the standards met if the product is third party verified; ownership, size, distance, production methods for Local & Community Based products 

Part 1

Third Party Verified and Community Based Products

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:
64.79

Part 2

Animal Products 

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

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):
4.69

Food and Beverage Purchasing Inventory

Required if pursuing either part of the credit:

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):
The University of Winnipeg is recognized as a pioneer in sustainable food because of Diversity Foods, the campus food service that was established in 2009. Diversity is a joint venture of the University of Winnipeg's Community Renewal Corporation's (UWCRC) & SEED Winnipeg to deliver excellent food services to the University of Winnipeg while providing meaningful employment and ownership opportunities for the community. Their specific community objectives include job opportunities in the food industry for new Canadians, Aboriginal people, community residents and University students. Diversity's mission is to provide food services that demonstrate the desire to meet the goals of sustainability at the University within a work environment that reflects a high level of training for the diverse group of employees. Diversity's mandate includes maximizing Social/Cultural/Economic/Environmentally Sustainable purchasing decisions. This includes a commitment to local procurement and specifically targets small businesses, farmers, fisherman, ranchers, etc. in an effort to maximize the economic benefits that our community experiences from our purchasing power. We cook from scratch as much as possible, and when we need to purchase a prepared food product we research the items chosen.

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):
Diversity obtained purchase velocity reports form all vendors and cross referenced with our accounting system and inventory control system. This requires constant monitoring. Compiling the specific data for this report took an additional 50 hours of work. The data reported is similar to the findings of the LEAF Canada audit that was performed based on purchases in our last fiscal year - which it was verified against.

If uploading output from the Real Food Calculator, provide:

Percentage of total dining services expenditures on Real Food A (0-100):
---

Percentage of total dining services expenditures on Real Food B (0-100):
---

Required if pursuing either part of the credit:

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 No No
Franchises (e.g. national or global brands) No No
Convenience stores No No
Vending services Yes No
Concessions Yes No

Optional Fields 

A brief description of purchased food and beverage products that have other sustainability attributes not recognized above :
Fentimans Botanical Brews; Dry Soda; Bolyns. All are using ethical US based production facilities (so no direct anti-labour practices like Coke/Pepsi) and use natural ingredients. Diversity has been working to ethically source sodas but can't afford the expense of verification.

Additional percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures on conventional products with other sustainability attributes not recognized above (0-100) :
0.55

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:
UWinnipeg has claimed credit for Green Seal and Marine Stewardship Council Certification. We are in fact certified Silver by LEAF and certified sustainable through the Vancouver aquarium's Ocean Wise program. Weblink to LEAF: http://leafme.ca/green-restaurants/ Weblink to Oceanwise: http://www.oceanwise.ca/content/ocean-wise-universities-and-colleges Most recent LEAF audit attached.

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.