The Alliance has had a strong interest in food issues since its formation in 2004, and food is a major concern in our initiatives on campus sustainability and the strong connections of food and health; a number of interns have completed projects on the sustainability and health impacts of food and campus dining services.
If you want to see sustainable food on your campus, you may want to take advantage of the many helpful resources available to you, including the work of Alliance interns over the last few years. We have compiled the following resources and will continue to update this page so it lists the best resources to help you — if you find additional resources please let us know! [List of research studies referenced in these projects]
New Resources
- Reusable Serviceware — recommended during pandemic!
- Reducing Waste from Restaurant Takeout and Delivery Meals
- Sustainability for Cafés and Restaurants
| Be part of the growing movement to rethink the system & stop the deadly ‘business as usual’ thinking — see our Internships section! |
Sustainable Food Policies
- Reducing Waste from Restaurant Takeout and Delivery Meals – A stronger focus on reducing — instead of recycling — would improve this, but it still has some good reminders in a compact 2-page format.
- Sustainability for Cafés and Restaurants – While this student project focused on food-serving businesses in the community, most of the points are equally applicable to campus cafés & dining halls. Sustainability Practices for Cafés and Restaurants
- Guide to Developing a Sustainable Food Purchasing Policy, developed by AASHE, Food Alliance, Health Care Without Harm, the Institute for Agricultural Trade and Policy, and the Oregon Center for Environmental Health. This provides a lot of information and guidance for developing your own food policy; it’s available from Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education [AASHE] or you can download the PDF here: [download the Guide to Developing a Sustainable Food Purchasing Policy]
- Taste the Change: How to Go Organic on Campus – An initiative from the Organic Institute, with an excellent report prepared by Nina Merrill, an intern from Colgate University. The report is available from the Organic Trade Association or you can download it here: [download Taste the Change: How to Go Organic on Campus (PDF)]
- Sustainable Food Purchasing Guide from Yale University’s sustainable food project. This detailed guide to purchasing provides guidelines for each category of food. Download the PDF here: [download the Sustainable Food Purchasing Guide]
- Sustainable Food Purchasing Guide [Working Draft] from Hampshire College
- Best Practices for Sustainable Food Purchasing at McGill University – Management Proposal [download PDF].
- Real Food Real Jobs – Can food workers, students, farmers, university administrators, and the broader food movement find common ground to more adequately reform the food system?
- Fair Trade – Authentic FairTrade assures that small growers and producers are paid fairly for their work and have a voice in decisions.
- Contract / RFP sample text – dining services for sustainability & health
[Contact us by email for a current draft] - Checklist for evaluating dining services in terms of sustainability & health
[Contact us by email for a current draft]
Why Real Food Is Critical for Sustainability and Your Health
- How To Get Meat Eaters To Eat More Plant-Based Foods? Make Their Mouths Water
Also see WRI report [PDF] - Environmental Nutrition — Redefining Healthy Food… [PDF] – although written primarily for hospitals & the healthcare system, this look at the principles & practices of environmental nutrition is applicable on campus (whether or not your college or university has courses in health sciences, nutrition, or public health).
- Impacts of Industrial Agriculture on Human Health – a student research report [read online or download report as PDF]
- Healthy Food for Healthy Communities – an examination of the health impacts of institutional food services [read online or download report as PDF]
- ‘Organic Is the Answer…‘, by Maya Rodale
[essay published in the 2011 edition of Sustainable Lehigh Valley] - Campus Food – Is it sustainable & Healthy?
- Healthy Eating – Healthy World, by J. Morris Hicks – A systemic approach shows why, ‘if we eat the way that promotes the best health for ourselves, we also promote the best health for the planet.’ [BenBella Books, 2011]
- Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe, by Maria Rodale [Rodale Press, 2009]
- The Sustainable Learning Community…, by Tom Peters et al. – The introduction is well worth reading, and each chapter has a Food Systems section. (University of NH Press, 2009)
- Recommended points for dining services policies, RFP, & contracts [contact us by email]
- Redefining Healthy Food, by Jamie Harvey – Food systems, pesticides, and other food concerns through a health lens, a report by the Center for Health Design and Health Care Without Harm. [PDF]
Real Food & Climate Change
- Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change [PDF] [Rodale Institute]
- Food, Soil, Hope, by Courtney White [Chelsea Green Publishing]
- Cows Save the Planet, by Judith D. Schwarts [Chelsea Green Publishing]
- Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe, by Maria Rodale [Rodale Press]
Successful Campus Efforts + Selected Organizations that Support Sustainable Campus Food
- Farm to College | Kenyon College – Detailed information on an exemplary local food program that purchases approximately 40% of their food from local & regional sources.
- Real Food Challenge – ‘uniting students for just & sustainable food’ – see how students are transforming their dining services…
Resources from AASHE [Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education]
We found the student research to be especially helpful, since it tends to focus on issues and areas for improvement. (Note: Some of these resources are available only if you log in with an email address from an AASHE member school.)
- Student Research on Sustainable Campus Dining Services
- Campus Case Studies on Sustainable Dining Services – a large, searchable database – you may want to narrow the search to specific topics
Additional Resources:
- Healthy Food in Health Care – this is essentially a parallel effort to improve institutional food in health care; it focuses on the health and social-justice impacts of food. The Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge provides many strong reasons for change, and ‘Their Menu of Change’ reports highlight success stories.
- ‘Principles for Framing a Healthy Food System‘, as published in the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. Available from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation or download from our site: [download ‘Principles for Framing a Healthy Food System’]
- United Students for Fair Trade – Resources & organizing support to promote FairTrade on your campus.
Also see these other campus sustainability resources:
- An Open Letter to College & University Presidents
- Internships:
- Campus Sustainability Internships
- Climate Action | Climate Action internship
[List of research studies referenced in these projects]
We’d like to hear your ideas! [Contact us by email]
| Be part of the growing movement to rethink the system & create change — See our Internships section! |