| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.74 |
| Liaison | Krista Bailey |
| Submission Date | Oct. 20, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Pennsylvania State University
OP-6: Food and Beverage Purchasing
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.97 / 4.00 |
Percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures that are local and community-based and/or third party verified:
A copy of an inventory, list or sample of sustainable food and beverage purchases:
An inventory, list or sample of sustainable food and beverage purchases:
See file above.
Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (food and beverage expenditures for on-site franchises, convenience stores, vending services, or concessions)?:
Percentage of on-site franchise, convenience store, vending services, and concessions food and beverage purchases that are local and community-based and/or third party verified:
A copy of an inventory, list or sample of on-site franchise, convenience store, vending machine, and/or concessions food and beverage purchases that are sustainably produced:
An inventory, list or sample of on-site franchise, convenience store, vending machine, and/or concessions food and beverage purchases that are sustainably produced:
See file above.
A brief description of the sustainable food and beverage purchasing program:
Penn State Food Services strives to purchase from local suppliers whenever possible. In 2009 guidelines were developed to encourage Pennsylvania companies to partner with the University. Our current standard for sustainable purchases includes those products processed within or grown or raised within the state of Pennsylvania.
All products meeting our PA/Green standards are purchased on a competitive bid basis and, in addition to meeting our standards, are also our best pricing alternatives. We currently allow for a small cost premium for PA produce items on the UP campus, in order to encourage our produce suppliers to source PA grown products.
We continue to put great efforts into increasing the number of PA vendors we purchase from directly, as well as the amount that we purchase from them.
For 3rd party certified products, our requirements vary by product. For example, for egg products we require UEP or American humane certification. Most of our fair trade and organic purchases are centered on coffee, tea and retail item purchases. Our coffee program is exclusively Starbucks and Seattle's Best. Please see the following link for their standards: http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/sourcing/coffee
A brief description of the methodology used to track/inventory sustainable food and beverage purchases:
Our current local purchases are tracked using a combination of both manual tracking and custom software. Some purchases are tracked by vendor while others are on an item-by-item basis.
Total annual food and beverage expenditures:
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 | Yes | Yes |
| Franchises | Yes | Yes |
| Convenience stores | Yes | Yes |
| Vending services | --- | --- |
| Concessions | Yes | Yes |
Has the institution achieved the following?:
| Yes or No | |
| Fair Trade Campus, College or University status | No |
| Certification under the Green Seal Standard for Restaurants and Food Services (GS-46) | No |
| Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification | No |
| Signatory of the Real Food Campus Commitment (U.S.) | No |
A brief description of other sustainable restaurant and food service standards that the institution’s dining services operations are certified under:
The website URL where information about the institution's sustainable food and beverage purchasing efforts is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Housing and Food Services manages food purchases for a wide array of facilities at Penn State, including residential dining halls, retail dining, athletic facilities, branch campuses, etc. It was not feasible to separate values by facility type, so the percentages of local/ sustainable above are the same for both groups of facilities.
Purchases were considered applicable if they met any of the following standards:
1. Product is grown in PA. (This qualifier is for fresh produce, and all other unprocessed foods.)
2. Raw materials in the finished product originate from PA. Minimum of 40% of the raw materials must originate from PA sources.
3. Products are processed and/or manufactured in PA. Products may be considered if they are processed or manufactured in a PA Facility. (Raw materials need not originate from PA sources for this qualifier.)
[Note that the UP campus is centrally located in PA, so that any PA purchases meet the STARS stipulation that "local" is within 250 miles of campus.]
4. Third party verified to be ecologically sound, fair and/or humane.
Values given above include only food purchases and do not include related non-food items such as compostable cutlery.
Also note that some food items sold on campus are produced by on-campus facilities, including the Berkey Creamery (dairy products), The Penn State Bakery (baked goods) and the Penn State Mushroom Lab.
Housing and Food Services manages food purchases for a wide array of facilities at Penn State, including residential dining halls, retail dining, athletic facilities, branch campuses, etc. It was not feasible to separate values by facility type, so the percentages of local/ sustainable above are the same for both groups of facilities.
Purchases were considered applicable if they met any of the following standards:
1. Product is grown in PA. (This qualifier is for fresh produce, and all other unprocessed foods.)
2. Raw materials in the finished product originate from PA. Minimum of 40% of the raw materials must originate from PA sources.
3. Products are processed and/or manufactured in PA. Products may be considered if they are processed or manufactured in a PA Facility. (Raw materials need not originate from PA sources for this qualifier.)
[Note that the UP campus is centrally located in PA, so that any PA purchases meet the STARS stipulation that "local" is within 250 miles of campus.]
4. Third party verified to be ecologically sound, fair and/or humane.
Values given above include only food purchases and do not include related non-food items such as compostable cutlery.
Also note that some food items sold on campus are produced by on-campus facilities, including the Berkey Creamery (dairy products), The Penn State Bakery (baked goods) and the Penn State Mushroom Lab.
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.