Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.47
Liaison Pamela Mischen
Submission Date March 5, 2020

STARS v2.2

Binghamton University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.93 / 6.00 Christopher Harasta
Retail Manager
Dining Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Percentage of total annual food and beverage expenditures on products that are sustainably or ethically produced:
1.10

Percentage of total annual food and beverage expenditures on plant-based foods:
28.73

An inventory of food and beverage purchases that qualify as sustainably/ethically produced:
A brief description of the methodology used to conduct the inventory, including the timeframe and how representative samples accounted for seasonal variation (if applicable):
This report uses two representative months of data: February 2019 and September 2019. These months were chosen because they represent fluctuations of availability of local products throughout the year and both months are during the academic semester when there is a standard academic schedule.

Sodexo Dining Services issues annual reports outlining their tracking methods of food / beverage purchase. Details can be found online:

http://bettertomorrow.sodexousa.com/s/

If reporting Real/Good Food Calculator results, provide:

Website URL where the institution’s validated Real/Good Food Calculator results are publicly posted:
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Which of the following food service providers are present on campus and included in the inventory/assessment?:
Present? Included?
Dining operations and catering services operated by the institution No No
Dining operations and catering services operated by a contractor Yes Yes
Student-run food/catering services No No
Franchises (e.g., regional or global brands) Yes Yes
Convenience stores Yes Yes
Vending services No No
Concessions Yes Yes

Total annual dining services budget for food and beverage products:
$10 million or more

Optional Fields

A brief description of the institution’s sustainable food and beverage purchasing program:
Binghamton University's dining service is contracted with Sodexo Dining Services which has a deep commitment towards sustainability business practices.

Binghamton University Dining Services has cultivated a campus food culture that celebrates the pleasures of producing, preparing and consuming sustainable food. The Binghamton University campus food system is comprised of multiple systems of production, processing, marketing, distribution, catering/preparation, consumption and waste management. Our policy includes a purchasing strategy that promotes sustainability in the campus food system by optimizing the mix of foods used by Dining Services with these objectives in mind: 1. increased use of fresh, minimally processed foods that meet sustainability standards, 2. emphasize direct purchasing from (local) producers, 3. optimize use of sustainable foods produced on campus (i.e. Binghamton Acres garden).

Some specific categories:
-All shell eggs are local and cage-free
-A large portion of the fish we serve are MSC certified
-We purchase a large portion of our beef from Purdy, a local supplier
-Byrne Dairy, a local milk company, provides our milk from NYS farms
-When available, we purchase local produce from Mento
-All Aspretto tea and coffee is certified organic and much of it is Fair Trade as well
-Lupo's, a company in the Greater Binghamton area, custom makes sausage for our account


For more information, go to
https://binghamton.sodexomyway.com/planet/local.html.

Website URL where information about the food and beverage purchasing program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Unit Control Logs

Vendor Purchasing Report from Sodexo.

Local Purchasing Report from Mento

Local Purchasing Report from Sysco

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.