Sustainable Purchasing

Overview

Stanford Dining, through the Sustainable Food Program, has developed a set of purchasing guidelines and preferences to establish a practical framework and an ongoing process for making food purchasing decisions. The guidelines take into account the best interest of our environment, the social and economic systems on which our food depends and the health of those to whom we serve food. Our guidelines are informed by the most current science and research available and draw on the input and involvement of many stakeholders within our campus community, with the goal of improving the overall health, safety, security and sustainability of our food supply. Generally speaking, we prefer to purchase food that is:

LOCAL: We prefer to purchase food that was grown, raised or processed within 150 miles of campus.

DIRECT: We prefer to purchase food directly from independently owned growers, producers and manufacturers.

ORGANIC/SUSTAINABLE: We prefer to purchase USDA certified organic produce, processed items, meat, dairy, poultry and byproducts thereof, and Seafood Watch-approved seafood.

HUMANE: We prefer to purchase meat, dairy, poultry and byproducts thereof that originate from livestock that were allowed to range freely and to express their natural instincts and behaviors for the entirety of their lives.

FAIR: We prefer to purchase food that traded at economic, social and environmental parity.

Local and Sustainable Producers

The fundamental pursuit of our Sustainable Food Program is to find answers to a small number of simple questions about the food we eat: where, how, and by whom was it grown, raised or processed, and how was it traded? In our experience, the most satisfying answers to these questions come by way of the people who were directly involved in the production of our food, and they play a big part in our Sustainable Food Program.

In addition to the direct relationships we’ve built with the partners listed below, we purchase local produce from over 150 local growers through carefully selected local distributors.

ALBA Organics - Salinas Valley, CA
Stanford Dining has partnered with ALBA Organics in Salinas, CA since 2003, which provides distribution and market access for about 30 small organic farms to expand and diversify their production. The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) “generates opportunities for farm workers and limited-resource, aspiring farmers to grow and sell crops” to institutional purchasers like Stanford Dining. ALBA's mission is to “advance economic viability, social equity and ecological land management among limited-resource and aspiring farmers.”

http://www.albafarmers.org/

Seafood Watch - Monterey, CA
Stanford Dining is a Seafood Watch partner of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We promise to never offer anything from the red “Avoid” category of the seafood watch card and to help build awareness about ocean-friendly seafood choices by bringing in guest chefs and experts in the field to our dining halls and providing labeling and signage about seafood to students.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/
cr/seafoodwatch.asp

Niman Ranch
The majority of our fresh pork comes from Niman Ranch, which "believes that in order to produce the finest tasting all-natural meat in the world you must begin with the strictest protocols. That means working with small U.S.
family farmers who are committed to raising the highest quality breeds and are dedicated to caring for their livestock traditionally. These guiding philosophies, from the genetics we source, to the feeds we use, to the humane animal raising standards contribute to the consistently, best tasting, all-natural beef, pork, lamb and smoked and prepared meats."

http://www.nimanranch.com

Clover Stornetta Farms - Petaluma, CA
All of the non-fat milk in our dining halls is organic and from Clover Stornetta: “is a locally owned and operated dairy processing plant in Northern California. We work closely with our family farmers to bring our consumers the cleanest, tastiest and best quality dairy products on the market.” http://www.cloverstornetta.com/

Berkeley Farms – Hayward, CA
We source antibiotic and hormone free milk from Berkeley Farms, which has been a local provide of milk products for over 90 years. “Berkeley Farms and the independent dairy farms we work with consider ourselves ‘nutritional ecologists,’ respecting the environment and providing advanced, skilled husbandry throughout the milk production process.” http://www.berkeleyfarms.com