Sustainable Food Policy

Pre-consumer organics collection

In 2016 the Café and Dining Hall introduced organic collections bins for pre-consumer organics. This allowed for the diversion of products such as fruit & vegetable scraps and paper napkins. These bins weren't just for students either - the staff in the dining hall took up the challenge to divert as much waste as possible by utilizing the organics bin.

Local food

The Augustana Dining Hall offers at least one Local Lunch per month, where all the food served at the meal is sourced as locally as possible. These delicious meals are offered at the same price as regular Augustana Dining Hall lunches. You won't want to miss out on the next Local Lunch.

Food Services also regularly sources a portion of our food from local sources - reducing the carbon footprint necessary to transport food to campus. These items are:

• Stir fry, ground beef, and stew meat - Double Z Farms & Meat Processing Ltd.
• Potato creamers, red, yellow, and purple - Little Potato Company, Edmonton Alberta
• Beets, cucumbers, parsnips, peeled potatoes, rutabaga - Sunfresh Farms Edmonton AB
• Quick Barley - Progressive Foods, Edmonton Alberta
• Desserts - WOW Factor Sherwood Park AB
• Cabbage rolls & filled frozen pastas - Troika Foods Ltd Pasta Time Sherwood Park AB
• Assorted seasonal vegetables - Erdmann's Garden & Greenhouse
• Assorted pork products - Irving's Farm Fresh Ltd., Round Hill, AB
• Wings Cooked Cantonese Noodles, Wings Egg Rolls - Wings Foods of Alberta Ltd- Edmonton AB
• Eggs - Morinville Hutterite Colony, Morinville AB
• Flour & Sunny Boy Cereal - Sunny Boy Foods Camrose AB
• Saskatoons - Berry Ridge Orchard, Sturgeon County AB
• Tea - Canada Tea's, Edmonton, AB
• Bean Sprout - Yat Sun Foods Edmonton

Waste Reduction

Augustana Food Services works to divert as much waste from the landfill as possible. Initiatives include:

• Introduction of pre-consumer compostable waste bins. Not only for students but kitchen staff as well.
• Oils from deep fryers are collected and sent to Edmonton for recycling.
• Collection of all recyclable materials for pickup.

Sustainable Food Policy

In serving food in its dining hall, the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta is guided by the following commitments:

• To provide safe, fresh and nutritious food;
• To contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of our home region and the planet, through balanced and responsible procurement decisions; and,
• To cultivate within our academic community both a critical awareness of food issues and a sense of celebration around food that is inclusive of the many cultural traditions represented among our students.

On Augustana's residence-based Campus, the Dining Hall plays a central and much-valued role in student life. It serves 300-400 meals three times a day, as well as extended snack times. Its skillful, conscientious food-services staff put quality ahead of convenience; meals are prepared on site, mostly from basic ingredients, rather than pre-cooked and pre-packaged.

In aspiring to be an institutional leader in developing sustainable food practices through its procurement decisions, Augustana balances a range of considerations. We are aware of the need to keep costs affordable for students. We are also aware, on one hand, of the advantages of our location in an agricultural region and, on the other, of the challenges presented by a northern climate and the existing food system. It is not possible to satisfy all basic nutritional needs - fruit, for example - from local and regional sources in all seasons. Our first priority is to provide safe, fresh and nutritious food. Our second priority is to support forms of food production and processing that sustain the environment, our regional rural economy and farm livelihoods. We understand that those priorities are not necessarily in conflict; often the second complements the first.

To the extent that it is practical, Augustana's preference is (1) to purchase food that is produced within our home region (approximately a 200-km radius), before looking to provincial, national and global sources; and (2) to purchase from farmers and processors who are taking steps towards sustainability in the methods they employ. In general, farmers and processors will

• utilize best practices in the application of fertilizers, natural or synthetic, and pesticides;
• engage in water and soil conservation;
• protect and enhance wildlife habitat and biodiversity;
• provide safe and fair working conditions for on-farm labour;
• provide healthy and humane care for livestock; and,
• reduce energy consumption through recycling and minimum packaging.

Augustana is prepared to work with farmers and processors to develop their capacity, help overcome obstacles and provide stable, long-term markets.

Fair Trade Options

Augustana endeavors to provide students with Fair Trade and ethically sourced options. Students have access to a variety of teas, coffee, and snacks that are certified Fair Trade in both the Café and Dining Hall.