| Overall Rating | Platinum - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 88.31 |
| Liaison | James Gordon |
| Submission Date | May 31, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Thompson Rivers University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.95 / 6.00 |
James
Gordon Environmental Programs and Research Coordinator TRU Office of Environment and Sustainability |
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):
TRU has two primary food and beverage operations that are part of the institution: the TRU Culinary Arts Program (which includes the Retail Meat Cutting program), and Aramark, the primary dining services contractor. The TRU Student Union (TRUSU) runs a cafe called Common Grounds. It will not be counted in this section since TRUSU is officially a separate governed entity from the institution of TRU (https://trusu.ca/). Only Culinary Arts and Aramark expenditures are included in the figures provided. Following is a brief description of each of their sustainable food and beverage purchasing programs:
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 regular basis, especially when fresh produce is available during the main growing months. All meats used in the Retail Meat Processing program is sourced from local and community-based suppliers. The former Chair of the Culinary Arts Program and current faculty member, Ed Walker, was instrumental in developing the successful Farm2chefs collaborative (http://www.farm2chefs.com/), which works by bringing local farms/ranches together and partnering them with local restaurants in order to see more local and substantially 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 fair trade and organic.
Aramark (in contract with TRU) (http://www.aramark.com/):
Aramark accounts for the majority of food and beverage purchases at TRU (approximately 75%) and buys many local, community-based and/or third-party verified products, especially during the growing season 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 fair trade and organic.
Aramark at TRU has implemented their “Green Tread” program in its operations.
The following is from the Aramark website (https: //www.tru.ca/campus/life/food-services/did-you-know/sustainability.html): " "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/about-us/news/aramark-general/green-thread-environmental-sustainability-platform.
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):
The managers of the two main TRU food and beverage operations were asked to supply a list of all food and beverage purchases that met the criteria and definitions around the terms ”third-party verified and/or local & community-based”. This data was then looked at a second time by TRU Sustainability staff to verify its accuracy and enter it into the attached inventory sheet.
The time frame of the data is April 1 2016 to March 31, 2017.
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 | Yes | Yes |
| Dining operations and catering services operated by a contractor | Yes | Yes |
| Student-run food/catering services | Yes | No |
| Franchises (e.g. national or global brands) | Yes | Yes |
| Convenience stores | No | No |
| Vending services | Yes | No |
| Concessions | Yes | Yes |
A brief description of purchased food and beverage products that have other sustainability attributes not recognized above :
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:
Paul Murphy, TRU Culinary Arts Coordinator, provided inventory lists and expenditures. These inventories were then manually sorted through and all Third Party Verified and Local and Community-Based products were highlighted in order to create a sustainable inventory list. Expenditures were also calculated. Each company was also researched in order to determine if it was considered Local and Community-Based.
Contacted Jessica Papineau, Director of Aramark Food Services at TRU, and she provided inventory lists and expenditures. Aramark Canada head-office has a Sustainability Manager (Michael Yarymowich) who provided all the exact numbers for Jessica, and so no manual counting was needed.
Regarding why some food products are 400 kms and 800 kms from TRU, according to the STARS Criteria regarding the definition of 'Local & Community Based' all single-ingredient products must meet ALL of the following criteria:
Ownership. Producer must be a privately or cooperatively owned enterprise. Wild-caught seafood must come from owner-operated boats.
Size. Produce: Gross annual sales for individual farms must not exceed $5 million (US/Canadian). Meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish/seafood, grocery/staple items (e.g., grains): Producing company’s gross annual sales must not exceed $50 million (US/Canadian).
Distance. All production, processing, and distribution facilities must be within a 250 mile (400 kilometre) radius of the institution. This radius is extended to 500 miles (800 kilometres) for meat (i.e., beef, lamb, pork, game).
Paul Murphy, TRU Culinary Arts Coordinator, provided inventory lists and expenditures. These inventories were then manually sorted through and all Third Party Verified and Local and Community-Based products were highlighted in order to create a sustainable inventory list. Expenditures were also calculated. Each company was also researched in order to determine if it was considered Local and Community-Based.
Contacted Jessica Papineau, Director of Aramark Food Services at TRU, and she provided inventory lists and expenditures. Aramark Canada head-office has a Sustainability Manager (Michael Yarymowich) who provided all the exact numbers for Jessica, and so no manual counting was needed.
Regarding why some food products are 400 kms and 800 kms from TRU, according to the STARS Criteria regarding the definition of 'Local & Community Based' all single-ingredient products must meet ALL of the following criteria:
Ownership. Producer must be a privately or cooperatively owned enterprise. Wild-caught seafood must come from owner-operated boats.
Size. Produce: Gross annual sales for individual farms must not exceed $5 million (US/Canadian). Meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish/seafood, grocery/staple items (e.g., grains): Producing company’s gross annual sales must not exceed $50 million (US/Canadian).
Distance. All production, processing, and distribution facilities must be within a 250 mile (400 kilometre) radius of the institution. This radius is extended to 500 miles (800 kilometres) for meat (i.e., beef, lamb, pork, game).
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.