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With the publication of the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, more than 1,100 school survey responses from over 300 institutions are now available online. In total, these surveys offer more than 10,000 pages of data collected from colleges and universities during the summer of 2009. To access surveys from other schools, go to the surveys section of the website. To see grades, or to access additional surveys submitted by this school, please click the "Back to Report Card" link at the beginning or end of the survey.
Name: Donna Gold
Title: Director of Public Relations
Date survey submitted: July 14, 2009
1) Total annual food budget: [$240,000]
LOCALLY GROWN AND PRODUCED FOOD
Note: Geographic location and seasonal availability are taken into account in assessing your response. "Local" is defined as within 150 miles of your campus.
2) Do you have any formal policies pertaining to local purchases?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please describe and provide URL, if available: http://www.coa.edu/html/campusenvinit.htm
COA is committed to:
(Items in red are especially relevant to food policy)
1. Instituting environmentally and socially responsible purchasing policies.
2. Reducing campus waste.
3. The maximization of energy efficiency and to using sustainable energy sources.
4. Enhancing sustainability in land-use and building planning.
5. Encouraging low fossil-fuel transport.
6. Providing curricular opportunities of study of campus and local environmental issues.
7. Utilizing regional and organic food sources.
8. Environmentally and socially responsible development and investment.
9. Green public outreach.
10. Enabling access of tools for sustainability.
11. A physical infrastructure, institutional practices and personal behaviors that will foster public health.
Questions 3-5 pertain to locally grown purchases.
3).From how many local farms or growers do you purchase (excluding on-campus farms/gardens)?
[ # 5] Number from which you purchase directly.
[ # 6 ] Number from which you purchase through a distributor. Please specify name and location of distributor:
Meadowsweet Lamb and Herb Farm, Denmark, Maine
The Turkey Farm, New Sharon, Maine
Seabreeze Farm, Friendship, Maine
Sunset Acres, Brooksville, Maine
Crown o’Maine Organic Cooperative, Gardiner, Maine
PFG-North, Augusta, Maine
4) How much do you spend annually on purchasing food that was grown or raised locally?
[$between $15,000 and $20,000]
5) Please list foods you purchase that are grown or raised locally (e.g., fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, fish, honey, maple syrup; foods that are processed locally should be listed in question 8):
Fresh fruits
Vegetables
Meat
Fish
Turkey
Questions 6-8 pertain to locally produced and/or processed items.
6) From how many local processors do you purchase?
[ # 9 ] Number from which you purchase directly.
[ # 1 ] Number from which you purchase through a distributor. Please specify name and location of distributor:
PFG-North Center, Augusta, Maine
7) How much do you spend annually on purchasing food that was processed locally?
[$c.$5,000-$8,000]
8) Please list items you purchase that are processed locally (e.g., bread, granola, ice cream, baked goods, yogurt, cheese):
Bread, ice cream, baked goods
9) Do you purchase milk from a local dairy?
[ X ] No
[ ] Yes.
10) Do you source any food from an on-campus farm or garden?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please describe source and amount: There is a campus community garden, and the kitchen has a plot within it; from there we get herbs, beans, peas, edible flowers and tomatoes.
11) Do you participate in a farm-to-school program?
[ ] No
[x] Yes. Please describe program: College of the Atlantic’s organic farm, Beech Hill Farm, not only provides produce for the college but for local elementary schools.
ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED FOOD
12) Do you have any formal policies pertaining to the purchase of organic and/or sustainably produced food?
[ ] No
[X] Yes. Please describe and provide URL, if available: http://www.coa.edu/html/campusenvinit.htm
(same as Question #2)
1. Instituting environmentally and socially responsible purchasing policies.
5. Encouraging low fossil-fuel transport.
7. Utilizing regional and organic food sources.
11. A physical infrastructure, institutional practices and personal behaviors that will foster public health.
We purchase as much organic food as we can given our budget. Certain foods are driven by additional policies that require that we purchase cage-free eggs and fair trade coffee.
13) Do you purchase organically grown or produced food?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please list items: Produce, meat, coffee, beans, grains, vegetable protein, whatever comes from our gardens
14) How much do you spend annually on organically grown or produced food?
[$50,000-$70,000]
For questions 15-19, please indicate percentage based on annual dollar amount spent.
15) Do you purchase cage-free eggs and/or confinement-free meat products?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[100 %] Percentage cage-free eggs
[100 %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product: chicken
[100 %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product: lamb
[100 %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product: pork
[100 %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product: beef
[100 %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product: turkey
16) Do you purchase any grass-fed animal products?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ 90%] Grass-fed. Type of animal product: beef
17) Do you purchase hormone- and antibiotic-free meat?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat: chicken
[ 75 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat: pork
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat: lamb
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat: beef
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat: turkey
18) Do you purchase hormone- and antibiotic-free dairy products?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of dairy product: milk
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of dairy product: yogurt
19) Do you purchase seafood that meets Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines or Marine Stewardship Council standards?
[ x ] No We purchase local fish and there are no MSC or MBASW standards for local Maine fish!
[ ] Yes. Please indicate.
[ %] Percentage purchased that meets guidelines. Please list guidelines used:
20) Do you offer specifically labeled vegan entrees on a daily, weekly, or other regularly scheduled basis?
[ ] No
[x] Yes. Please specify number of options and the frequency with which they are offered: Every meal has a vegan option. We offer one vegan, one vegetarian and usually one meat option.
21) Please list and give percentages for any other sustainably produced food items you purchase that are not included above:
FAIR TRADE PRODUCTS
22) Do you purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee?
[ ] No
[ ] Some. Please describe:
[ X ] All
23) Do you purchase other Fair Trade Certified food products?
[ x ] No
[ ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ %] Percentage purchased that is Fair Trade Certified. Type of item:
DISHWARE AND ECO-FRIENDLY INCENTIVES
24) Please indicate which of following your university-operated/contracted dining facilities offers.
[ ] Disposable dishware
[ x ] Only reusable dishware (on occasion we use disposable, when we run out of china, etc.)
[ ] Reusable and disposable dishware
25) If you offer disposables, please indicate materials used (check all that apply).
[ ] Plastic or polystyrene
[ ] Postconsumer recycled content
[x ] Biodegradable/compostable
[ ] Other
Description (optional): For events, staff parties, or when we run out, we use compostable dining service.
26) Do your dining facilities offer discounts or cash incentives to individuals using reusable dishware, bringing a bag, or bringing reusable containers?
[ x ] No
[ ] Yes. Please describe:
27) Do your dining facilities use any polystyrene products (i.e., Styrofoam)?
[ x ] No
[ ] Yes. Please describe:
FOOD COMPOSTING AND WASTE DIVERSION
28) Do your dining facilities compost preconsumer food scraps?
[ ] No
[ x] Yes. Please indicate the proportion of dining facilities that run preconsumer compost programs (e.g. two out of five dining facilities) and, if available, the combined annual tonnage composted.
[100 %] Proportion of dining facilities that run preconsumer compost programs.
[ c. 4 ] Annual tonnage of preconsumer compost.
29) Do your dining facilities compost postconsumer food scraps?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please indicate the proportion of dining facilities that run postconsumer compost programs (e.g. two out of five dining facilities) and, if available, the combined annual tonnage composted.
[ 100 %] Proportion of dining facilities that run postconsumer compost programs.
[ c. 6 ] Annual tonnage of postconsumer compost.
30) Do your dining facilities donate excess food to a food bank, soup kitchen, or shelter, etc.?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe: Daily excess food is given to students; at the end of every term we give excess food to a local shelter and the Bar Harbor Food Pantry.
31) Do your dining facilities have a trayless dining program?
[ ] No
[ ] Sometimes--on specific days, on certain occasions, or in specific locations. Please describe:
[ x] Yes--standard practice. Please describe program including date started and, if available, data on reduced food waste or water consumption: We started this in September 2008; we don’t have current data.
32) Please tell us about any other steps your dining facilities have taken to reduce waste (e.g., food waste auditing, recycling used cooking oil for biodiesel production):
We really don’t have that much excess!
We don’t sell or distribute bottles of water on campus. That is also a policy.
RECYCLING OF TRADITIONAL MATERIALS
33) Please indicate which traditional materials your dining facilities recycle (check all that apply).
[ ] None
[ x ] Aluminum
[ x ] Cardboard
[ x ] Glass
[ x ] Paper
[ ] Plastics (all)
[ x ] Plastics (some)
[ ] Other. Please list:
34) Are recycling receptacles located throughout dining locations?
[ ] No
[x ] Yes. Please describe: Our cafeteria and all student kitchens have recycling and compost receptacles.
35) What is the dining services' current waste-diversion rate (the percentage of recyclable waste diverted from traditional disposal)?
[ c. 90 %]
AFFILIATIONS
Questions 36-37 are for informational purposes only; responses will NOT be included in the Report Card evaluation process.
36) Indicate if your dining services are:
[ ] Contracted. Please describe:
[ x ] School operated. Please describe: Our kitchen is run by a partnership of dining managers, one of whom is an alumnus.
[ ] Other. Please describe:
37) Is the dining services director, or another dining services staff person, a member of any campus-wide environmental/sustainability initiatives or committees at your school?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe: All staff members sit on committees at COA. Dining staff is part of the Food Group
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