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The Pathway to Sustainable Campus Food Systems UCSC Case Study

The Pathway to Sustainable Campus Food Systems UCSC Case Study. UC Santa Cruz. Establishing a Collaborative Working Group Building Campus Community Bridges Supporting Community Food System Networks Moving Towards a Sustainable campus Dining Service .

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The Pathway to Sustainable Campus Food Systems UCSC Case Study

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  1. The Pathway to Sustainable Campus Food SystemsUCSC Case Study

  2. UC Santa Cruz • Establishing a Collaborative Working Group • Building Campus Community Bridges • Supporting Community Food System Networks • Moving Towards a Sustainable campus Dining Service

  3. Why is the purchase of “sustainable food” a priority • To provide students with healthier, fresher food • To support and strengthen local economies • To reduce the use of fossil fuels and CO2 emission • To reduce local use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides • To support socially responsible treatment of farmworkers • To support producer cooperatives in the global south through purchase of Fair Trade goods

  4. How did we get here? Forces The purchase of sustainable food reflects changes in American food preferences and values and is an emerging trend on college and university campuses across the United States Opportunities After a six month student campaign to “dump Sodexho”, theadministration ended its 30-year contract with the corporation in June 2004, allowing Dining Services to contract directly with suppliers for the first time. This transition to an “in-house” service structure allowed sustainable agriculture and social justice advocates an in-road to working with the UC administration to design a more sustainable food system.

  5. How did we get here? Resources • UC Santa Cruz is a world-renowned academic leader in sustainable food systems, and the home of the “Farm,” a training and research center for Agroecology. • Many students and faculty had previously worked on sustainable food system issues and were anxious to use their knowledge to bring “sustainable food” to the campus. • The proximity of UC Santa Cruz to organic farms that grow a variety of produce year-round ensures an abundant supply of local organic produce and the support of local organic farmers. Processes • Collaboration, student organizing and outreach, and ongoing student education facilitated acceptance and support of sustainable food by both Dining Services and students.

  6. The Campus Food System Working Group • CFSWG is one of many active groups that arose out of the 2004 Campus Earth Summit • Its members include environmental and social justice activists, students, faculty, staff, administration, and community members • Prior to the Earth Summit, some of its members had already been working to lay the ground work for a more sustainable campus food system • The group’s goal is to bring local organic food produced by socially responsible operations to UCSC dining halls and to create a sustainable campus food system

  7. FSWG Advisory Board FSWG Steering Committee Outreach & Education Subcommittee Guidelines & Policy Subcommittee Organizational Reps and Individual Members Food Systems Working Group Structure

  8. Food Systems Working Group Make-up • Advisory Board Members: • Jim Leap, CASFS Farm Manager • Brett Melone, ALBA Organics, MBOFC • Melanie Dupuis, Faculty, Sociology • Phil Howard, CASFS, Researcher • Jan Perez, CASFS, Researcher • Candy Berlin, CUHS • Yvonne Macon, Purchasing • Julie Guthman, Faculty, CMMU • Marisol Assetta, BFBL Coordinator, CAFF • Terrence Welch, Pinnacle Brand, MBOFC • Participating Organizations: • Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems • Program In Community & Agroecology • Students for Organic Solutions • Friends of the Farm & Garden • Community Agroecology Network • Santa Cruz Food Systems Network • UCSC Dining Services • UCSC Purchasing • Education for Sustainable Living Program • CSSC UC Foods • Monterey Bay Organic Farmers Consortium • Community Alliance for Family Farmers

  9. FSWG Priorities The top priorities that emerged from the 2004 & 2005 Campus Earth Summit were: • To develop guidelines for purchase of socially just, organic food by campus dining services • To educate and organize students to demand socially just, organic food in the dining halls

  10. What Were Some of FSWG’s Activities in 2004/05 ? • Holding farmer/ chef meetings to encourage dialogue and introduce food production managers to the seasonal available locally. • Holding meetings with Purchasing and Dining Services to discuss purchasing from local farmers • Setting up meetings with local farmers to establish an entity that could meet Purchasing’s contractual requirements. • Helping to facilitate large-scale local organic College dinner nights • Assisting student organizations with outreach and educational events around local and organic food • Engaging in the Santa Cruz Food Forum and Food Policy Working Group for the County

  11. Guidelines In May 2004, CFSWG drafted preference guidelines and goals to guide Dining Services in bringing “sustainable food” to campus dining halls. • Buy local: local food is grown within a 250-mile radius of Santa Cruz. • Buy seasonal: seasonal produce is produced locally during a given time of the year. • Buy certified organic: chemical residues on non-organic food may be harmful to human health. • Buy humanely produced animal products: humanely produced animal products are cage free, range fed, and anti-biotic free. • Buy direct: cultivating closer relationships between producer and consumer helps to eliminate middlemen, deliver more income at the farm level, and empower producers. • Buy certified fair trade: certified fair trade products are produced according to an established set of social criteria. • Buy worker supportive food products: worker supportive products are purchased from companies that incorporate one or more of the following: 1) have a unionized work force; 2) have a orientation towards social justice 3) actively seek to build the capacity of their workers

  12. Features of a Sole Source Contract with Local Organic Farmers • One entity –Alba Organics representing the Monterey Bay Organic Farming Consortium (MBOFC) • All growers in the consortium are certified organic (documented chain of custody allows produce to be tracked back to the field source) • All produce offered is grown within 250 miles of Santa Cruz, primarily in the Monterey Bay Area • All 7 farms in MBOFC have agreed to a cooperative research relationship with the University.

  13. Where are we now? • Last year Direct Fair Trade coffee and a few organic produce items were offered in the dining halls. • This year locally grown organic produce, including apples, green beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, chard, onions, peas, and heirloom tomatoes will be served. • A “sole source” contract with a local farmer’s collaborative we created has been delivering to campus • Biodegradable cutlery and materials are being used • A pulper machine was introduced to one of our dining halls • With energy retrofitting Dining Services was awarded thirteen thousand dollars last summer • FSWG sponsors many educational outreach events on campus • We assist with the Annual County Food Forum and other community events

  14. Education & Outreach • College Nights • Organic Taste tests • Speakers/Field trips • Innovative academic curriculum programs

  15. College Nights • Linking Farmer to Chef Meetings with Dining Service Events • Working with College Activity and Program Offices • Planning Fun and Engaging Programs!

  16. Organic Taste TestsAt Cowell & College 8 • Tactile Engagement • Working with Dining Halls and Activity Offices • Fun and Light-hearted

  17. Curricular Enrichment Courses: • ESLP ART • College 8 Core Course: Sustainability Service Projects • Center for Teaching Excellence Grant

  18. Education for Sustainable Living Program • Lecture class of 225 with 9 Action Research Teams (ARTs) • 16 Students in the Food System ART • Funding through the Campus Sustainability Council and FSWG

  19. Course Foci We Learned about: • The conventional agrifood system • Issues of pesticide drift and exposure in agriculture • The Organic Movement • And the larger Alternative Agro-food system movement

  20. Activities of the ART Section: • Organic College Nights • Strawberry Taste Tests • Farm tours: Blue Heron & Swanton Berry • Food System Working Group Meetings • Student Food Oriented Group Meetings

  21. Campus Food Systems Assessment

  22. Project Areas of Focus: • Past—labor, purchasing, waste reduction • Present—purchasing/labor, student perspective, & waste reduction • Future—What staff and students would like to see.. • Resource—funding for future sustainability efforts.

  23. C8 Sustainability Service Projects • 355 Freshman participants • 4 Projects to select from based on the food system • Building the capacity for “food citizenship”

  24. CLEI 90 Garden Course Food Systems Working Group PICA Living/Learning Academic Integration and Assessment Project Team CTE Grant ESLP CLEI 61/161 Action Research CASFS UCSC Farm CLEI 80A Core Course CLEI80 CLEIC80A ENVS 91 F Agroecology ENVS 191 F Agroecology Food Citizenship Initiative

  25. Food System Network for Santa Cruz • Food Forum • Funding Support: a) Food Forum b) Santa Cruz County Food System Network Website: www.scfoodsystem.org

  26. What we learned • Collaboration, organizing, outreach, and education were successful strategies • Ongoing education of students and Dining Services is critical • Communication with all stakeholders is a difficult process that must be constructively addressed • Securing funding has been helpful in expanding our action steps and educational events

  27. Next steps • Securing UCOP support for purchase of “socially just” food and a statewide policy for purchasing, Waste reduction, and green facility standards for campus dining systems (CSSC-UC Foods). • Continuing to educate meal plan holders • Addressing the costs of purchasing more sustainably produced food • Continuing to work with local farmer’s collaborative, MBOFC • Following through with our commitment to secure direct marketing relationships with local dairies and other sustainable food suppliers with Dining Services • Cultivating a steady rise in sustainable purchasing each year as student demand for sustainable food and the capacity of local farmers to supply the University grow • Looking at how we can work with campus groups who will focus on the “outputs” of the dining halls

  28. Resources • UC Santa Cruz Dining Services http://www.housing.ucsc.edu/housing/Dining_Main.html • UCSC Food Systems Working Group http://www.ucscsec.org/blueprint_and_summit/FSWG.html

  29. PowerPoint produced by:Linda Wallace, UCSC Food Systems Working Group Sociology Graduate Student ( Sustainable Development) Contact info: lindalwallace@earthlink.netTim Galarneau, UCSC Food Systems Working Group CSSC Statewide Sustainable Food Systems AdvisorContact info: solseeker3@aol.com

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