Dickinson College
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Dickinson College Center for Sustainability Education staff and interns analyze Dining Services purchases annually and classify each inventory item as plant-based/non-plant-based, third-party certified or institution affirmed. This process involves product source tracing through vendors, confirmation with AASHE's lists of approved items, and invoice research. To count as sustainably or ethically produced, a food or beverage product must have met one or more of the standards listed in Standards and Terms. We use all purchases for one fiscal year (FY23 in this case), and are not using a subset of data or representative sample. Non-food and beverage purchases (cups, cookware, cleaning supplies, etc.) have been extracted from the totals.

The timeframe for the data presented here is fiscal year 2023: July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023.

All produce needs are checked against the weekly availability list provided by the Dickinson College Farm; when available, those products are purchased from our farm. When not available from our farm, our sustainability dining vendor policy is enacted. At times, supply chain availability drives purchasing.

We prefer working with vendors who have well-developed sustainability statements, policies, and practices. Decision-making related to the selection of vendors with whom we do business, how we choose the products we use, and our preferences for equipment and materials used in our facilities will always include important sustainability factors such as those found in LEED certification programs and that will support today’s goals and objectives as well as those of tomorrow.

Following are brief descriptions of considerations important to us:

Employee welfare
Animal welfare
Energy consumption
Water use and conservation
Local and community-based producers and products
Compostable, recycling, and landfill diversion
Food and beverages should be naturally wholesome
Public safety

We expect our vendors to be able to provide us with the sourcing details of the products they provide us: from where and when the products come, from whom and how, the miles traveled to be processed and the miles to get to us. We prefer to use producers, farms, and processors located within 250 miles of our campus.

We prefer to source products from producers who are third-party certified such as Fair Trade Certified, Marine Stewardship Council Certified, Rainforest Alliance Certified, Food Alliance Certified, Protected Harvest, Salmon Safe, and Certified Humane Raised and Handled.

We prefer to source products from producers who are small to mid-sized and are more than 50 percent owned by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals, minorities and/or women.

Dickinson Dining Services is committed to the future in our procurement practices of today so that we may continually improve our practices in all that we do. We look to the future to contribute to a healthy environment for our guests, for ourselves and our families, and to leave a positive legacy that we owe to future generations. Food and beverage purchasing is critical to advancing these goals, and we hope to continue to work sourcing more local and community-based options each year.