University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
OP-7: Low Impact Dining

For this category, the food was broken down into two categories: food products and beverage products. Beverage products included milk, coffee/tea, soda, and juice. All other products were classified in the food category. Total food purchases amounted to $816,009.10. Beverage products totaled $145,565.71. Food that qualified as animals products included all food products that contain animal derived (i.e. meat, fish, egg, dairy) ingredients. This included, but was not limited to, seafood, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk, and cheese. The two sustainable categories that food must be certified within in order to be qualified as a sustainably-produced product were Humane and Ecologically Sound. Of the animal products that were included within our assessment, 14.50% of these products qualified as sustainably produced. A total of $68,172.28 was spent on sustainably produced animal products within our two month sample.

Every Café in the residence facilities offer – Local hummus, fresh cut fruit bars, fresh whole fruit bars, fresh salad bars including (Vinegar(s), Olive oils, non- meat proteins, variety of vegetables, variety of greens) In addition, during Lunch and Dinner the cafes offer at least one daily vegan selection per meal. Examples include, but not limited to: Vegan Wrap + Grapes, southwest Quinoa salad, wild ride blend, spring potato salad, Daily Deli bar w/ vegan ciabbata bread, roasted vegetable salad, asparagus peanut pilaf, sesame rice noodle stir fry, daily fresh cooked vegetables, baked potato bar, garlic rice, rice noodle stir fry, Build your own Tator Tot Bar. Website lists specific meals that are vegan & vegetarian.

By utilizing brochures, item labeling, and informational screens, vegetarian and vegan options are more widely advertised and the offerings have steadily increased since 2009. Restaurant Operations has also started an online tool called NetNutrition, which allows students to access the menu for all dining options for the coming weeks. This tool also identifies which products and menu items are locally sourced, vegan-friendly, and vegetarian. Vegan options are now labeled at the various dining options across campus to provide more transparency for those wishing to choose these dishes. Restaurant Operations has also listed these various options on their website.

A representative sample was used to inventory the sustainably produced animal products. September 2014 and February 2015 were used as the two sample months.