Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.69
Liaison Jennifer Kleindienst
Submission Date April 5, 2023

STARS v2.2

Wesleyan University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.51 / 6.00 Michael Strumpf
Bon Appétit Resident District Manager
Campus Dining Service
"---" 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:
11.28

Percentage of total annual food and beverage expenditures on plant-based foods:
27.67

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):
Bon Appetit tracks this data through its Farm to Fork Program, as well as tracking individual purchases that meet the STARS requirements. The time period is July 2021 - June 2022

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 Yes No
Franchises (e.g., regional or global brands) No No
Convenience stores Yes No
Vending services Yes No
Concessions Yes No

Total annual dining services budget for food and beverage products:
$5 million - $9.9 million

Optional Fields

A brief description of the institution’s sustainable food and beverage purchasing program:
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.

All coffee is organic, fair trade, and kosher; all seafood meets Monterey Bay Seafood Watch's "Best Choices" standards. All dairy products, mushrooms, tofu, seitan, turkey, pork, beef, and eggs are purchased from local suppliers that follow principles of organic agriculture.

In 2012, following the lead of students, President Michael Roth signed 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. COVID created setbacks in purchasing because of increased dining costs; pre-COVID purchases were around 25% "real food."

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 https://calculator.realfoodchallenge.org/institutions/54/profile. (Note that while we have not had a student group pursuing official Real Food certification, we are still actively pursuing the goals of this commitment).

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