Wesleyan University
OP-6: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Bon Appétit Management Company, Wesleyan's dining service, has a corporate commitment to sustainability that is evident at Wesleyan. All meals on campus are cooked from scratch. Bon Appétit's Farm to Fork program is a company-wide initiative that requires each of Bon Appétit’s 500 cafés across the country to purchase at least 20% of their ingredients from small, local, owner-operated vendors and farmers within a 150-mile radius of campus. Wesleyan purchases 19% of foods locally through its Farm to Fork program. Additionally, at Wesleyan all coffee is organic, fair trade, and kosher; all eggs are cage free and certified humane; all poultry is antibiotic and hormone free; all seafood meets Monterey Bay Seafood Watch's "Best Choices" standards; all milk is RBST-free and purchased from Ronnybrook Farm, a local dairy; and the vegan program serves entirely organic produce, dry herbs, and rice.

In 2012, students persuaded persuaded President Michael Roth to sign the Real Food Campus Commitment. This nationwide commitment pledges colleges and universities to buy 20% real food, defined as "local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound, and/or humane" by 2020. The commitment aims to get colleges and universities to use their purchasing power to support a healthy food system that strengthens local economies, respects human rights, ensures ecological sustainability, and facilitates community involvement and education. In addition to the 19% local purchases, Wesleyan purchases an additional 2% of its foods and beverages from sustainable sources, according to the Real Food Challenge.

For more information about Bon Appétit's Farm to Fork program, visit http://bamco.com/sustainable-food-service/farm-to-fork.
For more information about the Real Food Campus Commitment, visit http://www.realfoodchallenge.org/commitment.