1. 9% ➔ 12% Sustainable Food at HWS Humane Local Ecologically Sound Fair
Eric Bushnell ‘16 and Alyssa Kelly ‘19
HWS Real Food Challenge Interns
Real Food Challenge at HWS
Our Real Food Progress
Our Food Purchasing Policy
Purchasing Goals By 2020:
9% ➔ 12%
What is the Real Food Challenge?
15% Local
8% Humane
3% Ecologically sound
2% Fair
1% Produce from HWS Fribolin Farm
HWS Forager position
  In 2013, the Real Food Challenge (RFC) was introduced to Hobart and William Smith by Mollie Kenerson ‘15. The RFC is a student-driven, nationwide movement to make food purchasing more sustainable and transparent at colleges and universities. RFC stands to “leverages the power of youth and universities to create a healthy, fair, and green food system” (RFC).
Campuses who join the RFC are given access to the online RFC Food Calculator, a program into which they can enter food purchasing data provided by the institution’s dining services. The Calculator then reviews what percentage of the food is considered “real”; food that is local, fair, ecologically sound, humane, or several of these categories, according to RFC criteria. Institutions have the option to sign the RFC Campus Commitment to purchase and serve 20% “real food” by 2020.
Academic Year
Expenditure: $411,803
Academic Year
Expenditure: $418,791
These goals represent the culmination of independent research and outreach to the HWS community throughout the academic year. Important milestones in the process included:
November 2015: Met with President Mark Gearan and Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Carolee White and food faculty to review the status of the RFC at HWS and the feasibility of adopting a food purchasing policy.
January 2016: Finalized Hobart and William Smith Colleges Sustainable Food Purchasing Goals (December 2015), a report overviewing the status of food purchasing at HWS and an analysis of sustainable food purchasing policies across the country.
March 2016: Coordinated and met with Sustainable Foods Advisory Committee (SFAC) to review the development of the draft policy and receive feedback.
Local
Humane
Ecologically Sound
4% Real Food A 6% Real Food B
91% Conventional
2% Real Food A % Real Food B
88% Conventional
Fair
*Real Food A: Food products that are considered to be more than one of the four categories
*Real Food B: Food products that are considered to be one of the four categories
*Conventional: Food Products that are not local, fair, humane, or ecologically sound
Abstract
Timeline of Real Food Challenge at HWS
In fall 2015, HWS Real Food Challenge Policy Intern Eric Bushnell ‘16 researched sustainable food policies adopted by institutions of higher learning across the country to determine how to best foster more sustainable purchasing at HWS. Bushnell ‘16 compiled his findings and an overview of the status of food purchasing at HWS in the report Hobart and William Smith Colleges Sustainable Food Purchasing Goals (2015). An advocate for ensuring sustainable food for campus, Bushnell reached out to students, faculty, and staff to form the HWS Sustainable Foods Advisory Committee (SFAC), which convened in March 2016 to review the draft policy. Bushnell ‘16 has implemented SFAC’s input into the food policy, continued outreach, and plans to present the finalized policy to administration.
Alyssa Kelly ‘19 took on the role of HWS Real Food Challenge Calculator Intern in spring 2016 with the task of analyze HWS Sodexo Campus Dining purchasing practices, a continuation of fall 2015 RFC Calculator Intern Maggie O’Reilly ‘16. With receipt data uploaded and categorized, the Real Food Challenge Calculator determined the “Real Food” served at HWS percentage as 12%, a 3% increase from the previous assessment ( ). This finalized calculation was paired with Bushnell’s ‘16 HWS Sustainable Food Purchasing Policy form a progress report of current food values, standards and sustainability at HWS.
Acknowledgments:
Sarah Meyer and Lisa Cleckner, Finger Lakes Institute
Lynn Pelkey and Mark Robinson, Sodexo HWS Dining Services
Adam Maurer, Office of Sustainability
Maggie O’Reilly WS ‘16, Real Food Challenge Calculator Intern