LOCAL FOODS INITIATIVE
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – STOUT
MAY 10, 2012
KATIE HAIN, RYAN MELCAREK, CAITLIN SANDIN, AND STEVE ZWEBER
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CONTENTS
Project Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3
DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT CONDITIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Project goals ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Projected problems .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Resources used ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
PROJECT PROPOSAL – Sustainability tracking assessment and rating system (stars) ....................................................................... 5
Methods ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Problems we encountered: ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Effective Strategies: Assumptions and Specifics ........................................................................................................................ 10
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS:.......................................................................................................................................... 10
TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................................... 14
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Appendix A: Key contacts ............................................................................................................................................................... 17
Appendix B: Meeting Notes ............................................................................................................................................................ 18
Meeting with Ann theis and jim selz (2/28/2012) ....................................................................................................................... 18
Meeting with Jim Selz (3/20/2012) .............................................................................................................................................. 18
Meeting with Sarah Rykal and Kristina (4/10/2012): ................................................................................................................... 19
Meeting with Sarah Rykal about Final Report (4/17/2012): ........................................................................................................ 19
Phone conversation with troy GoodNough (4/30/2012) ............................................................................................................. 19
Phone interview with troy GoodNough (4/30/2012) ................................................................................................................... 20
Phone interview with Jenna Deardorff (5/2/2012) ...................................................................................................................... 21
Appendix c: Email Correspondences…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………22
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PROJECT TIMELINE
Date:
Accomplishments:
2/7/2012
Possible project ideas were presented to class.
2/9/2012
Assign to groups: Steve, Caitlin, Katie, and Ryan were assigned to the local foods project.
2/14/2012 Presented overview of initial project outline to class.
2/21/2012 Meeting with Sarah Rykal: Discussed the STARS program and key campus and off‐campus contacts for
future reference.
2/23/2012 Meeting with Peter D’souza: Discussed the possibility of a side project to implement local foods into the
Restaurant Operations and Management course.
2/28/2012 Meeting with Ann Theis and Jim Selz: Steve, Ryan, and Sarah met with Ann and Jim of UW‐Stout Dining
Services to discuss feasibility of implementing the STARS program at UW‐Stout.
3/1/2012
Presented progress report stage 1 to class.
3/7/2012
Teleconference with Jerry Waller, UW‐River Falls Dining Service Director.
3/20/2012
Meeting with Jim Selz and Sarah Rykal. Jim agreed to contact our large food distributors.
3/29/2012
Progress report stage 2, how feasible are the proposed solutions “determining focus”.
4/10/2012
Meeting with Sarah Rykal and Kristina Willmarth, H&T program inventory control coordinator. We
discussed Kristina’s project with the H&T program, how to organize the dining services purchase data,
and what we can do to help populate the FarmPlate database.
4/12/2012
Progress Report: Update on Proposal Analysis
4/17/2012
Meeting with Sarah Rykal: Discussed her expectations for the project report and discuss which companies
are most likely to meet the STARS criteria.
4/23/2012
Final report due (Draft)
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4/30/2012
Phone interview with Troy Goodnough, University of Minnesota‐Morris Sustainability Coordinator
5/2/2012
Phone interview with Jenna Deardorff, Morris Healthy Eating Assistant Coordinator
5/8/2012
STEM Student Project Expo 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT CONDITIONS
In the 2011 Climate Action Plan for University of Wisconsin‐Stout, an upcoming initiative is to “Research the Association
for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) STARS Program and develop a timeline for
implementation at UW‐Stout” (Nieskes et al. 2011, pg.22). The deadline for this action item is May 31st 2012. Sarah
Rykal, UW‐Stout’s Sustainability Coordinator, requested help in completing the dining services portion of the
Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (personal communication, February 14th, 2012). She stressed the
need to monitor and improve our local food purchasing here on campus, and provide an overall more sustainable dining
experience. Our group’s overall project consisted of compiling information on the food purchases of the UW‐Stout
Dining Services, including where the food comes from and where it is processed before arriving at Stout. This data will
be used to determine the percentage of local food purchased by the UW‐Stout Dining Services.
PROJECT GOALS
•
Gain an understanding of how AASHE STARS program works – how to score local food and beverages purchases
•
Understand how UW‐Stout’s purchasing compares to other institutions
•
Assess how much food is grown locally under STARS criteria
•
Develop recommendations for increasing local food and beverage purchases
PROJECTED PROBLEMS
The major problem we faced while assessing the food purchases of such a large organization is the availability of
information. Unlike many Wisconsin universities that have contracts with major food distributors for all dining
purchases, Stout is self‐operated. The Dining Services staff internally handles all dining purchases. We met with Ann
Thies, Director of University Dining Services, and Jim Selz, Assistant Director. Ann and Jim explained the general logistics
of running such a large operation and informed us of the difficulty of tracking where the food is grown and processed.
Although, a challenge, we were determined to research this issue.
Local is not always the cheapest option. From the very beginning it seemed the economic portion of the triple bottom
line was of the highest importance to UW‐Stout. This is something that was made apparent by our initial attempts at
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contacting Peter D’Souza about implementing local foods for the Restaurant Operations class offered at UW‐Stout.
Immediately, Peter informed us that unless we could beat the price for a particular item, they wouldn’t make the change
into buying local. We responded by asking if there would be a possibility of making the exchange of a higher cost for a
higher quality product, but this idea was dismissed with an assumption that local does not mean higher quality.
Currently, there is no central distribution center for local farmers to sell their products. This creates on obstacle for local
food purchasing at UW‐Stout. For example, if an individual farmer showed up with a particular item, for instance eggs, a
UW‐Stout employee would have to be pulled away from normal duties to count and safely store the eggs. Throughout
the day, other farmers could arrive selling other food products. This creates a logistical problem where too many human
resources are being used in an attempt to provide local foods.
RESOURCES USED
Our most valuable contacts when determining the current conditions of UW‐Stout’s Dining Services were Ann Theis, Jim
Selz, and Sarah Rykal (Appendix A). During the beginning of the project, we learned of Jim’s work in 2008 when he
determined the total dining services purchases from Wisconsin companies. This information was very helpful for our
first step of narrowing down which companies would potentially meet the STARS criteria. Ann and Jim were also able to
explain how their self‐operated department functioned and the cost effectiveness of their current prime vendors.
PROJECT PROPOSAL – SUSTAINABILITY TRACKING ASSESSMENT AND RATING SYSTEM (STARS)
The Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) is a program that offers recognition to universities
that strive to implement sustainability initiatives on their campus. The program uses a point system and provides tools
to help universities measure their progress towards sustainability. After submitting a report, STARS will provide
feedback and rate your campus’s sustainability efforts as bronze, silver, gold, or platinum, depending on the data turned
in. The overall assessment includes categories covering all aspects of campus operations. Sarah Rykal requested help in
collecting data for the section related to Dining Services. The STARS program requires registration and a fee to
participate (AASHE, 2012). Sarah Rykal is currently seeking grant funding to cover the registration fee for UW‐Stout. Her
goal is to collect food data in time for the July, 2012 STARS registration date.
The STARS program recognizes two different criteria for the food and beverage purchasing category. To earn the full six
points for this category, food and beverage purchases must meet one of the following to be considered sustainable:
●
●
Grown and processed within 250 miles of our institution
Third‐party certified (USDA Certified Organic, Fair Trade, etc)
STARS SCORING – FOOD AND BEVERAGE PURCHASING: OP TIER 6
Institutions earn the maximum of six points when food and beverages that meet at least one of the criteria outlined
above comprise 50 percent or more of food and beverage purchases (Table 1). Incremental points are available on the
percentage of food and beverage expenditures devoted to sustainable food. For example, an institution that spent 25
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percent of its food and beverage budget on sustainable food would earn 3 points (half the points available for this
credit). If an institution does not meet the criteria of one of the major categories, it can still receive partial credit. This is
obtained by multiplying the percentage of local food by a factor of .12. For example 10% x .12 = 1.2 credits toward
STARS (AASHE, 2012).
Dining Services
Credit Number
Op 6
Op Tier Two
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Credit Title
Food and Beverage Purchasing
Dining Services Tier Two Credits
Trayless Dining
Vegan Dining
Trans‐Fats
Guidelines for Franchisees
Pre‐Consumer Food Waste
Composting
Post‐Consumer Food Waste
Composting
Food Donation
Recycled Content Napkins
Reusable Container Discounts
Reusable To‐Go Containers
Possible Points
6
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
Total Possible Points: 8.5
Table 1. Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS)
STARS SCORING ‐ DINING SERVICES TIER TWO CREDITS
Tier two credits are also available from the STARS program, 0.25 points available for each Tier Two credit earned (Table
1). For example, 0.25 points can be earned if trayless dining is in place; trays are removed from or not available in dining
halls.
As a result of a phone conference with Jerry Waller, the University of Wisconsin‐River Falls Dining Director, we learned
that UW‐River Falls contracts a professional food service firm, Sodexo, to provide dining service in the University Center,
Therefore, it was relatively easy for Jerry to obtain data to determine the percentage of food that meets the STARS
criteria. However, UW‐Stout is self‐operated, which makes it more difficult to obtain data for STARS. Jim Selz, the
Assistant Director of UW‐Stout Dining Services, gave us a spreadsheet of the entire dining expenditures for 2011. Using
this data, we generate a list of companies located within a 250 radius of UW‐Stout (Table 2). A Google Map was created
to provide a visual image of the extent of land area within this radius (Figure 1). This was our basic guide to determine
whether a particular company meets the local foods STARS criteria. Jim suggested we collect data for all purchases
made through Reinhart Food Services since it contributes the greatest quality of food purchases (Table 3).
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Companies Within 250 Miles
ADM
Allens
Ambrosia
American Popcorn Company
AMPI
Arbre Farms
Badger Poultry
Bakers Quality Pizza Crust
Barilla America
Barrel O Fun
Basic American
Batory Foods – Manufactured
Bay State Milling
Bay Valley Foods
Best Maid Cookie Company
Birds Eye Food
Bosco’s Pizza Company
Brakebush Brothers
Bush Brothers & Company
Burke Marketing
Cherry Central
Danish Kringle
Dan’s Prize
Diamond Crystal
Ellsworth Co‐op Creamery
Foremost Farms
Frito Lay
General Mills
Gold N Plump
HC Brill
Jennie‐O
John Morrel
Jones Dairy Farm
Lakeside Foods
Land O Lakes
Kemps
Kikkoman
Klements
Marzetti
McCain
Michael Foods
Mission
Morningstar Foods
Northern Star
Organic Valley Farms
Papetti
Pillsbury
Rochester Meats
Reinhart Meats
Riverside Foods
Sara Lee
Schreiber Foods
Schwann’s
Seneca Foods
Silver Spring Garden
Sugar Incentives
Swirl of Wisconsin
Swiss Miss
Grassland Dairy
Gray’s Brewing Co
Hillshire
Hormel
Ventura Foods
Westby Co‐op Creamery
Wisconsin Spice Company
WW Johnson Meat Company
Table 2. Companies within 250 miles of UW‐Stout obtained through dining services courtesy Jim Selz
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Figure 1. Map of the 250 mile radius around UW‐Stout.
Company
Items
Cost (Dollars)
BakeMark
Bakery Supplies
23,776.00
Kemp’s
Dairy
196,728.00
Reinhart
General Groceries
1,190,077.00
Roma
Pizza Supplies
40,622.00
US Foods
Fresh Produce & Misc. Groceries
122,983.00
TOTAL:
1,574,186.00
Table 3. Total dining services purchases for the 2011 academic year. For our project we focused on Reinhart
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METHODS
We used several different methods to conduct our research. We called companies directly, asking about the products
that UW‐Stout buys from them. This is the basic outline we used for the phone conversations:
1. We are UW‐Stout students
2. We are doing research attempting to find where our food is grown and processed
3. Ask about specific items when possible
4. Ask if there are any assumptions they can make (50% or more, all beef is local, etc)
Overall, we received a lot of resistance from most companies. It seemed as if the first reaction from customer service
representatives from the larger companies was to ask who we were. We believe this is because companies are required
by the FDA to have a food tracking system in place due to potential liability. It seemed that the representatives were
trying to determine whether they were required to give us information. Once they determined it was optional, they
seemed glad to tell us they were unable to provide the information we required. We received more positive responses
from the smaller companies. The representatives seemed to approve of what we were doing and were happy to provide
information.
We also tried emailing companies or submitting questions through companies’ online forms. However, the response
rates were much lower using these techniques. Some information was obtained through independent online research.
For instance, one of the companies that is too large to be considered local (Hormel) actually owns several of the other
companies that we buy bacon or meat from. So, even though the company name is different, the processing and
distribution of the meat will be the same. Companies seemed to follow an economy first guideline; keeping their costs
low is the highest priority.
PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTERED
1. The original list of companies within a 250 mile radius included companies that may have a plant, distribution
hub, or headquarters within the range limit.
a. A distribution center is not the same thing as a processing plant. Processed food is transported from
across the country (or from other countries) to these distributions centers. Therefore, the food is most
likely not locally produced.
2. Too many ingredients/items
a. Stout orders hundreds of items continuously throughout the year from specific companies. Many of
these companies acquire the ingredients (such as wheat for bread products, eggs for bakery items, etc)
from wherever the best deal is at the time. For instance, Rochester Meats acquires meat from all over
the U.S., wherever it is cheapest and readily available.
b. The smaller companies that Stout purchases food from seemed more willing to provide information.
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of food was purchased from these companies in 2011. Most
companies were larger and because of the problem previously, it was nearly impossible to track down
information, such as which batch of eggs was used for a certain batch of dough. They are technically
9
required to track this information for the FDA, however, as previously stated , the effort required for this
process is simply too costly to carry through just for the purposes of finding out if items are local.
EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES: ASSUMPTIONS AND SPECIFICS
An email from Pat Miller, sales manager of Bakers Quality Pizza Crust, provided some good insight into the type of data
that is needed to determine local ingredients:
Our flour comes from Winona, MN and represents just 65% of our recipe. Our yeast comes from Minneapolis
and our shortening comes from Illinois. Those ingredients plus water represent 96% of our recipe. I hope that
helps you.
Because Stout only purchases pizza crust from this company, it was much easier for the company representative to
research the ingredients. However, for many of the other companies, Stout purchases multiple food items, making it
much more difficult for company representatives to research the amount of local ingredients used. For example, when
we contacted the Best Made Cookie Company, the company representative didn’t know if the ingredients were
produced within the 250 mile radius. However, when we asked more specific questions, we learned that the eggs and
butter came from Winona, Minnesota, but other ingredients, such as sugar, were unknown. With this information, we
made the assumption that the majority of the cookie recipe was within the 250 mile range.
Based on our experiences, we believe the best strategy for the STARS assessment is to focus on the smaller companies
as much as possible. They are more willing to share information and are more likely to have purchased ingredients
locally.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The total dollar amount spent by UW‐Stout Dining Services on locally purchased food that meets the AASHE STARS
criteria was $57,311.78 for the 2011 calendar year (Table 4). This equates to only 3.36% of total food purchased as
“local” (Table 5), giving UW‐Stout .4 total points to add to the STARS total (Table 6).
At first glance the achievement of 3.36% seems very poor, and when compared to other Universities it is again below par:
 University of Minnesota‐Morris: 20%
 UW‐Oshkosh: 71.37%
 UW‐Green Bay: 10%
 UW‐River Falls: 17.5%
However, we believe this is due to broader assumptions about what is local. Other schools made large assumptions with
companies like Kemps. Kemps is part of a very large co‐op called Dairy Farmers of America. This co‐op consists of
farmers throughout the entire United States. Therefore, there is a possibility that milk will be purchased from outside
the 250 mile radius if it’s cheaper to do so. We decided to take the approach of integrity and honesty – unless we were
100% sure about a company, we didn’t include it as local. We hope to set a trend of being more concise on the STARS
assessment for the entire UW system.
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Company
Bakers Quality Pizza Crust
Barilla America Inc
Best Maid Cookie Company
EllsWorth Co‐op Creamery
Foremost Farms USA
Gold’N Plump Fresh
Lakeside Foods
Organic Valley Co‐op
Riverside Foods
Sculpture Ice
Silver Springs Garden Inc.
Westby Co‐op Creamery
Total Purchases
$10,899.45
$2,001.50
$47.94
$91.06
$26,100.14
$6,310.09
$7,999.16
$195.92
$3,355.44
$61.30
$225.47
$24.31
$57,311.78
Total
Table 4. Listing of total purchases made by UW‐Stout Dining Services during the 2011 calendar year which qualify as local under
the AASHE STARS criteria.
Total Local Purchases 2011
57,311.78
Total Purchases 2011
1,574,186.00
Percentage Local
57,311.88/1,574,186 = 0.03640731
0.03640731 x 100 = 3.36%
Table 5. Breakdown of local purchase percentage compared to total purchases.
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Dining Services
Credit
Number
Credit Title
Possible
Points
Points
Achieved
Op 6
Food and Beverage Purchasing
6
.4
Op Tier
Two
Dining Services Tier Two Credits
3
Trayless Dining
0.25
0
4
Vegan Dining
0.25
0
5
Trans‐Fats
0.25
.25
6
Guidelines for Franchisees
0.25
0
7
Pre‐Consumer Food Waste Composting
0.25
.25
8
Post‐Consumer Food Waste Composting
0.25
.25
9
Food Donation
0.25
0
10
Recycled Content Napkins
0.25
.25
11
Reusable Container Discounts
0.25
.25
12
Reusable To‐Go Containers
0.25
.25
Total Points Possible:8.5
Points Earned:
1.9
Table 6. Total points achieved at UW‐Stout according to STARS criteria
Currently, UW‐Stout Dining Services only purchases about 3% of food locally. We believe the best option for increasing
that percentage is to buy more food products from suppliers that are known to purchase ingredients within the 250 mile
radius of the university (Table 4). An example is the Westby Co‐op Creamery. Currently, the only purchase made from
them is light sour cream worth $24.31 annually. Other products that could be purchased from this company include
cottage cheese, yogurt, regular sour cream, and various vegetable dips. This process could be followed with other local
companies, analyzing and comparing products and prices to what we already purchase from the national market. Giving
back just a portion of certain purchases to a local market would be a great step in supporting the local economy. It can
create positive relationships between UW‐Stout and small scale companies, and can provide a framework for working
towards sustainability and reducing Stout’s carbon‐footprint.
We recommend using the local food system established at the University of Minnesota Morris, UMM as an example for
creating change at UW‐Stout. In 2009 UMM began partnering with organizations, agencies, and businesses to make
healthy foods more available and accessible in their community. Through a large donation by the Blue Cross Blue Shield
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of Minnesota, a community coalition was created. The “Morris Healthy Eating” coalition included two representatives of
each founding partner along with a coordinator and student leadership team. The Morris Healthy Eating team
conducted an extensive food assessment of not only UMM, but the entire Morris community and greater Stevens
County. The assessment included multiple surveys, events, and new partnerships that led to a plan to make healthy
foods an easy choice for people of all ages and incomes. The results of this assessment can be found through the
University of Minnesota Morris website ("Morris healthy eating," 2010).
Through communications with Jenna Deardorff, Morris Healthy Eating Coordinator, we learned more of UMM’s
experience with the ASSHE STARS assessment and current local foods projects in the area. Morris has created a new list
of priorities, which are stricter than the standards set by the STARS program, for how UMM defines “local”:




Priority 1: Pride of the Prairie farmers and growers; Buy Fresh Buy Local Upper Minnesota River Valley; locally
and sustainably grown; Within 100 miles of Morris
Priority 2: Small Minnesota owned business; Minnesota/regionally grown and processed; Food Alliance or other
sustainability certification; Within 250 miles of Morris
Priority 3: Third‐party certified as USDA Organic, sustainably raised (Food Alliance) or Fair Trade; beyond 250
miles of Morris
Priority 4: Locally/regionally grown and processed within 250 miles of Morris without organic or sustainability
certification
They group other US‐grown/produced foods as Tier 5 and food grown/produced outside the US as Tier 6 (Jenna, 2012).
According to Troy Goodnough, UMM Sustainability Coordinator, for UW‐Stout to progress as a sustainable campus in
terms of dining services there are four phases which must be followed:
1. Relationship building phase
o Who are the important partners needed to make it happen
 Producers
 Distributors (Reinhart)
 Community members
2. Assessment phase
o Where is UW‐Stout currently purchasing local
o What do people want
3. Planning phase
o How can local purchases be expanded
4. Action phase
The first two phases are on‐going and must be constantly revisited throughout the process. Maintaining relationships
with UW‐Stout’s primary food vendors as well as building new relationships with local food producers is necessary. In
addition, collaborations between related organizations and community members need to be created (Troy, 2012).
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TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE ANALYSIS
Food trade around the world has an impact on the environment, economy, and society in its own way. These factors are
interchangeable, all affecting the other. In an effort to recognize a growing issue in the food business, we’ve created a
model to show how the main industry looks today (Figure 2), and a revised model on a sustainable effort to create
balance (Figure 3). Models were created with the triple bottom analysis in mind. Below, the model we’ve developed to
demonstrate our national farming methods today is heavily weighted towards economic benefit; on the rise are
environmental impacts, and the social factors contribute little. Ideally, all factors would impact the industry evenly,
creating balance. Through sustainable efforts, and purchasing more foods from local sources, our industry creates a
better chance to make the change. In order for this to happen, we first recognized the problem and then began to
devise a solution.
Economic
Social
Environmental
Social
Figure 2
Economic
Environmental
Figure 3
Buying locally has several definitions depending on who the client is, and what is being purchased. For an individual,
buying locally may be purchasing vegetables from a growers market whenever possible. Depending on the product,
“local” may mean buying oranges from Florida instead of Mexico. In our analysis of the Dining Services at University of
Wisconsin‐Stout, we’ve chosen to follow the STARS assessment definition, food grown and processed within 250 miles
of its destination (AASHE). By aiming to achieve over 50% of UW‐Stout’s Dining purchases as local, it further pushes UW‐
Stout toward Figure 3 where there is a more balanced system between society, the environment and economy. The
amount of food that is consumed by the UW‐Stout student body is significant. Dining services spends and average of
$1.6 million/fiscal year. Imagine another 1.6 million dollars boosting local economies rather than contributing further to
large corporations that keep costs down, while the environmental cost skyrockets and societal gains are few. Currently,
UW‐Stout Dining Services seems to be focused on the economic bottom line of food purchases. This was made apparent
when we presented the idea of implementing more local purchases into the Restaurant Ops course taught by Peter
De’Souza. During our conversation it was made clear that local food prices must be competitive with the Reinhart Foods
prices. We then asked if there were any compromises that could be made for quality, which would have a greater
impact on society in terms of the student body. This again was not well received, arguing that local does not always
mean higher quality food.
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Environmental concerns when it comes to farming are endless. Buying local often cuts down on the distance food
travels from farm to table, saving transportation fuel and carbon emissions. An individual buying local from a farmers
market is also cutting down on large farming produce that may require larger amounts of herbicides, fungicides and
other chemicals we release to protect our crops. Buying locally promotes diversity in foods grown and purchased, and
promotes sustainable farming practices. Runoff from industrial farming practices has become an increasing source of
pollution affecting freshwater streams and rivers. By reducing the travel by delivery trucks, emissions are reduced.
Diversity in our dinner is on the decline, partly due to wholesale purchasing. For example, in 1866, 1,186 varieties of
fruits and vegetables were produced in California. Today, California's farms produce about 350 commercial crops (“Buy
Local”, 2009).
Economically, industrial farms and meat producers may make the most money, but this should not be the only
influencing factor when it comes to handling our nation’s food. Purchasing locally helps circulate money within a
community, bringing wealth to neighborhood farmers instead of corporate giants. Buying local pumps dollars into the
area economy and builds a robust market for the region’s farm products ("Buy local", 2009). By eliminating as many
“middle men” as possible, more dollars are returned to the farmer instead of the production/distributor. According to
Jules Pretty, the amount of money going back to farmers has shrunk significantly over the past 50 years. Farmers used to
receive anywhere from 45‐60% of the money a consumer spent, whereas it’s presently 3.5% on average. She also states
that a US wheat farmer “receives six cents of each dollar spent on bread, about the same as for the wrapping” (Jules,
2001). What do these prices say about how we really feel about our food?
Society has been pushed to the back burner in the agricultural industry, which is seemingly ironic considering that it was
put into place to help feed society. Farmers make up about 1% of the population in the United States, and with farm
sizes on the rise, farm operators continue to decrease. The average age of a farmer is increasing, with very few young
farmers taking over (Heller and Keoleian, 2000). We need to ask when has food become just a business and stopped
being personal? A farmer’ market is a great way to buy locally. You have the luxury of meeting the farmer that grows the
food you eat. You can ask the farmer how the food was raised and produced. Local farmers’ markets and Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms can bring together people who share the same concerns about the future and
promote organization and cooperation toward common goals ("Frequently asked questions," 2011).
Ultimately, a change needs to happen within the constructs of society itself. Every person has the power to spend their
money in places where it can do more good for society and the environment. Instead of going to a fast food place and
spending six dollars on a meal, go to a local store where you may spend a few more dollars for higher quality food that is
from a local source. It is a sacrifice that must be made. The change may not be fast, but the impact can be huge. From
the data in Table 3, we see that there are 1.6 million dollars spent at UW‐Stout alone. Imagine if all $1.6 million were
spent within 250 miles, or even 100 miles. Local farmers would have more cash in their pockets, which would most
often be spent within the community. This boost to the communities could result in things such as increased job
opportunities and increased economic growth. More jobs could mean more opportunities for UW‐Stout to gain more
students at the campus as a whole because of the ease of paying their way through, along with the aspect of having
fresh, local, and tasty foods available.
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REFERENCES
AASHE. (2012). Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System. Retrieved from https://stars.aashe.org/
Buy Local, Local Food Is Sustainable ‐ The Issues ‐ Sustainable Table. (2009). Sustainable Table. Retrieved from
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/whybuylocal/.
Frequently Asked Questions ‐ FoodRoutes. Food Routes. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.foodroutes.org/faq11.jsp
Heller, Martin C., and Gregory A. Keoleian. (2000). "Life Cycle‐Based Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the U.S.
Food System." Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, 2000: 42.
Jenna, D. (2012). Interview by S. Zweber [Personal interview]. Phone interview with Jenna Deardorff.
Local Foods & Healthy Eating at Morris. (2012). University of Minnesota Morris. Regents of the University of Minnesota.
Retrieved from http://www.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/foodandhealth/
Meter, Ken. (2005). Finding Food in California: local gains, systemic losses. Crossroads Resource Center. p.8.
Nieskes, E., Moen, D., Rykal, S., & Krimpelbein, K. (2011) University of Wisconsin‐Stout Climate Action Plan,
2011. Retrieved from Stout website: http://www.uwstout.edu/sustainability/upload/CAP‐2011.pdf
Morris healthy eating community food assessment. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.morris.umn.edu/healthyeating/docs/CommunityFoodAssessmentComplete.pdf
Pretty, Jules. (2001). Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems. Briefing Note for TVU/Sustain AgriFood
Network.
Troy , G. (2012). Interview by S. Zweber [Personal Interview]. Phone interview with Troy Goodnough.
University of minnesota morris. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.morris.umn.edu/healthyeating/
UW‐Stout. (n.d.) Dining Services General Information. Retrieved from University of Wisconsin‐ Stout:
http://www.uwstout.edu/campuslife/dining/about/general‐information.cfm
16
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: KEY CONTACTS
Name or Organization:
Email:
Sarah Rykal ‐ UW‐Stout Sustainability Coordinator
rykals@uwstout.edu
Krista James ‐ UW‐Stout Associate Professor of Biology
jamesk@uwstout.edu
Martha Daines ‐ UW‐Stout Professor of Transportation Energy
dainesm@uwstout.edu
Mike Lizotte ‐ UW‐Oshkosh Sustainability Coordinator
lizotte@uwosh.edu
Shelly Janowski ‐ UW‐Stevens Point Sustainability Coordinator
Shelly.Janowski@uwsp.edu
Laurie Case ‐ UW‐Green Bay Sustainability Coordinator
casel@uwgb.edu
Ian Johnson ‐ UW‐River Falls Sustainability Coordinator
ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu
Jerry Waller ‐ Director of UW‐River Falls Dining Service
jerry.j.waller@uwrf.edu
Ann Theis ‐ Director of UW‐Stout Dining Service
thiesa@uwstout.edu
Jim Selz ‐ Assistant Director of UW‐Stout Dining Service
SelzJ@uwstout.edu
Peter D’souza ‐ Associate Professor of Food and Beverage Management, UW‐Stout
dsouzap@uwstout.edu
Kristina Willmarth ‐ UW‐Stout Graduate Student in Dietetics Program
willmarthk@my.uwstout.edu
Jenna Deardorff – Morris Healthy Eating Assistant Coordinator
jdeardor@morris.umn.edu
Troy Goodnough – Sustainability Coordinator, University of Minnesota‐Morris
good0044@morris.umn.edu
Table 6. Key contacts for determining current conditions and recommendations
17
APPENDIX B: MEETING NOTES
MEETING WITH ANN THEIS AND JIM SELZ (2/28/2012)
 Start by contacting sustainability coordinator from Stevens Point (self op.), River Falls, Greenbay, Oshkosh.
 The prime vendor we go through gives us some of the best prices in Wisconsin
 Dairy is through Kemps
 Bread is another local contract
 Pepsi bottling out of Eau Claire – contract
 Contracts for snack items
 Grown and/or processed?
 Sold items:
o Organic Valley
o Jack Links
o Other beef sticks
 Get a model to follow! Maybe contacts STARS as well
 Village Hearth  Distributed near Altoona
MEETING WITH JIM SELZ (3/20/2012)
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
last time he studied what food was being grown, produced, processed “locally” was back in 2008 ‐ 2009
We can start with the brands/companies we want to collect purchasing data on
○ Reinhart we buy almost 97% of our bulk from them, our primary carrier
○ Kemps does all dairy products for Stout
○ U.S foods‐ our secondary (maybe 3 %, things like produce) around 150 ‐ 200,000 for produce with most of this
coming through U.S foods
The private label stuff is harder to tell, however, he already has a lot of information on the major purchases we make now.
Jan 1 ‐ Dec. 31st 2011 will be our timeframe
Jim will collect the information from our suppliers.
Study up on the 2‐tier portion to better explain to Jim how the Franchise and trans‐fats portion works
Around $2 million on food a year, 150,000 on kemps
○ About 50% of all purchasing through Reinhart
○ Country Hearth from Minneapolis for all bread purchases
○ Pepsi bottling company out of Minneapolis
○ Snacks are around 150 ‐ 200 thousand but we will not include them
○ Ecolab provides all dispensed cleaning products (This should be looked into because it should count as a 2‐tier
point category)
The way we pay Reinhart: (U.S foods is the same breakdown, also kemps and bread is similar)
○ groceries
○ produce
○ cleaning products: we’ll leave this category out
Sarah is going to email Jerry and get some reports from him, for Jim to reference
250 mile radius for grown and processed food stretches to cover almost all of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and a chunk of
Michigan.
18
MEETING WITH SARAH RYKAL AND KRISTINA (4/10/2012):
Jim Selz believes the river falls data is incorrect (not grown and processed within 250)
● Stockyard meats, Earthgrains, and Kemps ‐ cannot know whether all products are grown within 250 miles
● We need to inquire where many of our suppliers products are grown such as Kemps, Bush’s, Country hearth, Organic Valley,
Ellsworth Creamery, Best Made Cookie Company (river falls),
● Make notes as we go for why they were included and what assumptions were made
● Fairtrade or organic certified lets us bypass the 250 mile rule
● Rheinhardt may be more willing to work with us than previously thought
Next step:
● Go through the list Jim emailed us a couple weeks ago and start researching each company that may be from w/in 250
miles grown/processed
○ Start with the most likely company’s and work out from there.
○ Take notes where assumptions were made as we breakdown these companies
● Prepare the information for the STARS assessment by breaking down the cost/ percentage of each purchase with these
companies
Kristina’s project:
● H&T program inventory control coordinator, doing all of the purchasing and inventory for the food labs
○ Working on composting & local food which will be down the line
Farm plate:
● Saver wisconsin, local harvest, farm fresh, minnesota grown,
● Jeff Gangemi‐ Director of Partnerships & Communications, FarmPlate.com, 603.643.7400 (office), 607.229.4144 (cell)
Grad assistant (Ashley Rodenthal ‐ MSAP) will be coming on in July and helping for an entire year to work on the curriculum portion
of the STARS assessment (1/3 of the entire thing). Another grad student will be coming in after Ashley to crunch the numbers.
MEETING WITH SARAH RYKAL ABOUT FINAL REPORT (4/17/2012):
●
●
●
Gave us literature on how to grade UW‐Stout’s local food purchases for the STARS assessment
We went through the “Companies within 250 miles” listing and Sarah explained which companies are most likely to fall into
our critieria
Sarah will email Jim to request the purchase spread sheets for Kemps and US Foods because we currently only have the
2011 purchases from Rhienhardt
○ These are the main one but she will try to get all of the 2011 purchases
PHONE CONVERSATION WITH TROY GOODNOUGH (4/30/2012)
 Phases:
 Relationship building phase
 Assessment (what are other doing, asshe metrics, creating their own metrics “rules, top tier, 2nd teir…”)
19
 Planning
 Action phase

Troy’s questions:
o Any local food initiatives regionally
 Any student collaborations?
o How are these converstations being had? Where are people coming together to talk about healthy eating and
food?
o Buy Fresh Buy local:
 Formation of farmers markets, how is the university engaged
 Highlight that relationship by bringing local producers to campus
 Bring the community in to celebrate this relationship
 The more you can bring folks from outside of campus
 What kind of pressure are students putting on the management of the university
 This is an evolutionary process
 Morris is in the middle between cheapest price and most sustainable products.
 Morris is trying to hone the most accurate way to measure
o How are students meeting about this issue, and how can we create this culture
o Key piece of this work is celebration: keep your eye on what opportunities should be exposed more.
o What education work is being done to make people understand the complexities the supplier is facing
(Rhienhardt). Let’s start documenting the changes Stout goes through.
PHONE INTERVIEW WITH TROY GOODNOUGH (4/30/2012)
 Phases:
 Relationship building phase
 Assessment (what are other doing, asshe metrics, creating their own metrics “rules, top tier, 2nd teir…”)
 Planning
 Action phase

Troy’s questions:
o Any local food initiatives regionally
 Any student collaborations?
o How are these converstations being had? Where are people coming together to talk about healthy eating and
food?
o Buy Fresh Buy local:
 Formation of farmers markets, how is the university engaged
 Highlight that relationship by bringing local producers to campus
 Bring the community in to celebrate this relationship
 The more you can bring folks from outside of campus
 What kind of pressure are students putting on the management of the university
 This is an evolutionary process
 Morris is in the middle between cheapest price and most sustainable products.
 Morris is trying to hone the most accurate way to measure
o How are students meeting about this issue, and how can we create this culture
o Key piece of this work is celebration: keep your eye on what opportunities should be exposed more.
20
o
What education work is being done to make people understand the complexities the supplier is facing
(Rhienhardt). Let’s start documenting the changes Stout goes through.
PHONE INTERVIEW WITH JENNA DEARDORFF (5/2/2012)
She works with Morris Healthy Eating
 Office of Community Engagement Assistant Coordinator
 Morris Healthy Eating Assistant Coordinator
Program started in 2009 (5 year program) funded through blue cross blue shield
University program so the campus is their primary audience
Once funding came in they surveyed pretty much everyone they could think of, assessing student eating habits, farmers markets,
cooking classes, gardening (took a year) Community Food Assessment (figure out where they were before they made a plan)
 They were already building relationships with the co‐op, farmers market, and hospital
 This assessment is what provided their work for the next 3 years
o Trying figure out what people wanted first
 Food co‐op hadn’t until recently had fresh produce so they helped to grow the produce department
Sodexo:
 A few years ago Morris renegotiated a contract with Sodexo
 Campus has an overall sustainability plan and dining services is part of that plan
o STARS matched up in many ways with Morris’s plan (Morris has 6 tiers to measure sustainability)
o They have set a goal to be in the top 3 tiers, more strict than STARS
o They have a new committed dining services director
 Now they’re trying to get their campus garden food into dining services
 Sodexo does have projects to sometimes fund these projects
 Food cost between local vs. not:
o There is research out there comparing
o Funding from different departments to kind of ileviate that price difference
 We need a student to be a liason between dining services and all other organization
STARS:
 She worked soley on the dining services program
 Some of the tiers are kind of broad so they concentrate on
 Kemps – Processed
 Some of their 20% are from those larger companies such as Hormel and Kemps, it is a balance between these large
companies and the truly local producers’
o They are keeping these tiers kind of separate
*She’ll send a link to the comm. assessment
21
APPENDIX C: EMAIL CORRESPONDENCES
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 4:45 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: Regarding Bio 444/Sust. 425 ‐ Local Food Project
Sarah,
My group for the sustainability class has chosen to work on the local foods project you had spoken about last Tuesday.
We would like to set up a meeting with you regarding the Stars program and a few other ideas we have come up with.
The most available times for us to meet would be either Tuesdays or Thursdays around 1 ‐ 2:00 PM. Please let us know
when you are most available and we look forward to meeting with you.
Thanks,
Steve Zweber
From: Rykal, Sarah
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: Regarding Bio 444/Sust. 425 ‐ Local Food Project
Hi Steve (and everyone)!
Yes, let’s meet! I’m really happy you’re interested in working on this. How about next Tuesday at 1pm? We can meet in
my office – 225 Administration Building?
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 4:05 PM
To: Thies, Ann; Selz, James
Cc: Zweber, Steve; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: Food Audit Project
Hi Ann and Jim,
I just met with some students from the Sustainable Design and Development capstone course (copied here) who are
planning on working on a food‐related project for the campus this semester. They would like to do an assessment of
food purchased by UW‐Stout. The data they gather would be used for the AASHE (Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education) STARS Program (Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System). STARS is an
22
initiative that we were charged with implementing on campus. It tracks our sustainability progress is all areas of campus
operations, including dining. STARS has several categories within dining, the biggest being Food and Beverage
Purchasing, which looks at food and beverage purchases that are grown and processed within 250 miles of the
institution. The students are interested in gathering that data for STARS. I’ve told them that they would have to work
with you and your staff to get the data they’re in need of. I’m wondering if you would have some time for all of us to sit
down and discuss the scope of their project and how they can best proceed. They are mostly free on Tuesdays and
Thursday from 1pm to 2pm. Please let us know the best day and time for you.
Also, if you’re interested in learning more about STARS, this is their website: https://stars.aashe.org/
Thanks so much for your time!
Sincerely,
Sarah
Sarah Rykal
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
715.232.5254
www.uwstout.edu/sustainability
From: Thies, Ann
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 5:01 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Selz, James
Cc: Zweber, Steve; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Food Audit Project
We are not sure how much we can actually provide in such detail but we can meet and talk about your needs and what
is available for information.
Does 1;00 on Tuesday the 28th of February work? If so we will meet in the Commons – let me know and I’ll get a room.
Ann Thies, Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
thiesa@uwstout.edu
Phone: 715‐232‐2134
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
www.uwstout.edu/dining
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 5:02 PM
To: Thies, Ann; Selz, James
Cc: Zweber, Steve; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Food Audit Project
23
Thanks for the quick response, Ann. I have February 28th at 1pm on my calendar. Steve, Katelyn, Ryan, and Caitlin: Can
you confirm that this works for you?
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 5:13 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Thies, Ann; Selz, James
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Food Audit Project
Next Tuesday at 1:00 PM works fine for all of us, Caitlin may be joining after her class if she can.
Thanks,
Steve
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 5:13 PM
To: Zweber, Steve; Thies, Ann; Selz, James
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Food Audit Project
Thanks Steve! Ann, if you could please book and room and let us know the location, that would be great. Thanks again!
Sarah
From: Thies, Ann
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 10:50 AM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Zweber, Steve; Selz, James
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Food Audit Project
Room 146 Commons if the location.
Ann Thies, Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
thiesa@uwstout.edu
Phone: 715‐232‐2134
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
www.uwstout.edu/dining
24
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 11:18 AM
To: Thies, Ann; Zweber, Steve; Selz, James
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Food Audit Project
Thanks Ann! We’ll see you there!
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2012 4:05 PM
To: Zweber, Steve; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: UW‐ Sustainability Coordinator
Hi everyone,
The sustainability coordinator contacts for the other 3 UW STARS schools are as follows:
UW‐Oshkosh: Mike Lizotte: lizotte@uwosh.edu
UW‐Stevens Point: Shelly Janowski: Shelly.Janowski@uwsp.edu
UW‐Green Bay: Laurie Case: casel@uwgb.edu
Please contact them to get more info about how they performed their food audits. UWSP is self‐operated like UW‐
Stout, but the other two are contracted out.
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Rykal
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
715.232.5254
www.uwstout.edu/sustainability
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2012 4:21 PM
To: Thies, Ann; Zweber, Steve; Selz, James
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: STARS Credits for Dining
Hi Ann and Jim,
I’m attaching the STARS Handbook pages related to Dining Services that I promised to send you during today’s meeting.
I’m also providing links to the reports related to Food and Beverage Purchasing for UW‐River Falls, UW‐Oshkosh, and
25
UW‐Green Bay (the 3 UW schools who have reported their data so far). Below are links to the extended data
submissions as well:
UW‐River Falls:
17.5% of food expenditures meet the criteria of 250 miles or 3rd party certified (3.35 points (of 6 points) awarded)
https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/university‐of‐wisconsin‐river‐falls‐wi/report/2012‐01‐13/#ec_7_28
UW‐Green Bay:
10% of food expenditures meet the criteria (2.45 points awarded)
https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/university‐of‐wisconsin‐green‐bay‐wi/report/2011‐09‐15/#ec_2_10
UW‐Oshkosh:
71.37% of food expenditures meet the criteria (6 points awarded)
https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/university‐of‐wisconsin‐oshkosh‐wi/report/2012‐02‐04/#ec_2_10
Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for meeting with us today.
Sarah
Sarah Rykal
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
715.232.5254
www.uwstout.edu/sustainability
From: Rykal, Sarah [mailto:rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 4:02 PM
To: Ian Johnson; Jerry Waller
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Subject: STARS Dining Credits
Hi Ian and Jerry,
I’m writing to get more info about how you collected the Dining Services credits for STARS at UW‐River Falls. I’m
working with a student group – copied here – to begin doing an audit of Dining Services at UW‐Stout using the STARS
criteria. Right now, I’m trying to get them in contact with you, so I will let Steve, Ryan, Caitlin, and Katelyn contact you
with questions. I’m wondering if it might be wise for all of us to meet and discuss how you gathered this data. Let me
know your thoughts.
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Rykal
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
715.232.5254
26
www.uwstout.edu/sustainability
From: Jerry Waller [mailto:jerry.j.waller@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 7:08 AM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Ian Johnson
Subject: RE: STARS Dining Credits
FYI, I am around this week. I will be out of the office next week at a conference, and Back March 12. Not sure what time
frame you were looking at.
Jw
From: Ian Johnson [mailto:ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 10:42 AM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Jerry Waller
Subject: Re: STARS Dining Credits
...and I'm at a conference all of this week, back Friday. :) I'm happy to go over any questions the students (or you) might
have.
I'll be happy to sit down if we can find a time that works for everyone ‐ in the meantime, shoot me emails with any ??'s.
Ian Johnson
612‐220‐3829
Sent from my iPhone
From: Hain, Katelyn [mailto:haink@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 6:46 PM
To: Zweber, Steve; Jerry Waller; Rykal, Sarah; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
I'm available to meet at 7:15am tomorrow.
Katelyn Hain
27
From: Jerry Waller [mailto:jerry.j.waller@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 6:45 AM
To: Hain, Katelyn; Zweber, Steve; Rykal, Sarah; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
I’m here, we have a Central phone # to go through but they are not here till 7:45 so it would be easiest for me to call
you.
I have Sara’s # as 715‐232‐5254. Jw
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 1:56 PM
To: Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn; Zweber, Steve; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Hi everyone,
Sorry, I wasn’t in at that time this morning. Jerry, thanks for trying to make it work. When would you like to talk next
week?
I’m free Monday after 2pm or Tuesday between 10 and 2:30.
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Zweber, Steve [zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 8:46 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
I am free Tuesday from 1:00 ‐ 2:30 PM if that is a possibility for anyone.
‐Steve Zweber
From: Jerry Waller [mailto:jerry.j.waller@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 6:33 AM
To: Zweber, Steve; Rykal, Sarah; Hain, Katelyn; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
I do not have any free time on Tuesday. Wed. I am somewhat flexible. so suggest a time and I will do anything I can to
make it work.
Thanks jw
28
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 9:45 AM
To: Jerry Waller; Zweber, Steve; Hain, Katelyn; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Thanks Jerry. I’m free from 1:30 to 4:30 on Wednesday.
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 9:46 AM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn; Ian Johnson
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
I am free as well on Wednesday until 4:30.
‐Steve
From: Ian Johnson [mailto:ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 10:22 AM
To: Zweber, Steve; Rykal, Sarah; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Should we shoot for 2:00 on Wed? It sounded as though Jerry might be able to make something on Wed work as well…
Sarah, should I call you at the office?
Ian Johnson
Research Fellow
St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development
University of Wisconsin River Falls
ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu
715‐425‐3479
Like us on Facebook
From: Rykal, Sarah [mailto:rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 10:27 AM
To: Ian Johnson; Zweber, Steve; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Can we do 2:30 instead? Ian, will you and Jerry be in the same place?
29
From: Ian Johnson [mailto:ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 11:03 AM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Zweber, Steve; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
2:30 works for me. I haven’t talked to Jerry, so I don’t know where he will be. I can call in from my office – can you
support multiple call‐ins if Jerry wants/needs to call from his office?
Ian Johnson
Research Fellow
St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development
University of Wisconsin River Falls
ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu
715‐425‐3479
Like us on Facebook
From: Rykal, Sarah [mailto:rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 12:45 PM
To: Ian Johnson; Zweber, Steve; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Hi Ian,
Yes, we have a conference phone here. So we’ll call you and Jerry at your locations tomorrow at 2:30. Can you and
Jerry please provide the numbers where we can reach you?
Steve, Katelyn, Caitlin, and Ryan, please come to 225 Administration Building, in the conference room at 2:30 tomorrow.
Thanks everyone!
Sarah
From: Ian Johnson [mailto:ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 2:32 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Zweber, Steve; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Call at the office would be best – 715‐425‐3479
Ian Johnson
Research Fellow
St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development
University of Wisconsin River Falls
ian.k.johnson@uwrf.edu
715‐425‐3479
Like us on Facebook
30
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 4:20 PM
To: Johnson, Ian; Zweber, Steve; Jerry Waller; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: STARS program
Thanks Ian. Jerry, can we reach you at 2:30 tomorrow? If so, where?
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Hain, Katelyn
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 5:45 PM
To: Michael Lizotte [lizotte@uwosh.edu]
Subject: Re: STARS program
Good Afternoon,
My name is Katelyn Hain and I am a student at University of Wisconsin‐Stout. I'm working with the Sustainability
Coordinator here on campus and a few students to gather data to complete the dining services portion of the STARS
program for a Sustainable Design and Development project. It is our understanding that UW‐Oshkosh has currently
completed the STARS program with an outstanding rate overall, as well as in the dining services portion. If possible, we
were hoping to be in contact with someone at your campus who could lead us in the right direction with collecting the
data for this portion. Any information is helpful at this point! We look forward to hearing from you,
Katelyn Hain
Applied Science
Environmental Science concentration
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
From: Michael Lizotte [lizotte@uwosh.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2012 11:25 AM
To: Hain, Katelyn
Subject: Re: STARS program
31
Hi Katelyn,
I collected the data for the dining portion, primarily by sending questions to our dining services director. Some of the
questions he had to pass along to our food contractor, Sodexo. For example, estimating dollars spent on local food was
a question that only Sodexo could answer.
Of these categories:
OP‐6: Food Purchasing (Sodexo)
Tier 2 Credits

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Tier2‐1: Trayless Dining
Tier2‐2: Vegan Dining (Sodexo)
Tier2‐3: Trans‐Fats (Sodexo)
Tier2‐4: Guidelines for Franchisees
Tier2‐5: Pre‐Consumer Food Waste Composting
Tier2‐6: Post‐Consumer Food Waste Composting
Tier2‐7: Food Donation
Tier2‐8: Recycled Content Napkins
Tier2‐9: Reusable Mug Discounts
Tier2‐10: Reusable To‐Go Containers
Our dining dierector, Marty Strand (strand@uwosh.edu), had to go to Sodexo for OP‐6, Tier 2‐3, and 2‐4. Our dining
director addressed all the other categories, including the ones we did not meet (e.g. vegan).
Let me know if I can provide any more details. I would be glad to answer any questions from your dining director, or
connect them with the UW Oshkosh dining director, .
Sincerely,
Mike
Michael Lizotte
Director of Sustainability
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
650 Witzel Avenue, Oshkosh, WI 54902
cell: 920‐420‐1732
lizotte@uwosh.edu
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 3:42 PM
To: Selz, James
Cc: theisa@uwstout.edu; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin; Rykal, Sarah
Subject: Can we meet next week?
Good Afternoon Jim,
Since our last meeting my group, along with Sarah Rykal,have been contacting some of the other Wisconsin universities
to gather information on how they completed their STARS assessment on campus dining purchases. Now that we have
32
been informed on how other universities approached the STARS dining criteria we would like to meet with you to
discuss the next step.
If you are available for a meeting next week please let us know so we can figure out a time and date. I will forward you
some of the emails between us and UW‐oshkosh as well as Stevens Point in the next day or two
Thank you for your time,
Steve Zweber
From: Selz, James [SelzJ@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 2:46 PM
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: theisa@uwstout.edu; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin; Rykal, Sarah
Subject: RE: Can we meet next week?
Monday (3/19) is open until about noon. Tuesday (3/20) is open all day. Thursday (3/22) morning would be OK too.
Let me know what may work.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 8:35 AM
To: Selz, James
Cc: theisa@uwstout.edu; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin; Rykal, Sarah
Subject: RE: Can we meet next week?
It looks like a few of us are free Tuesday at 1:00 PM, how does that sound?
‐Steve
From: Selz, Jim
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 9:09AM
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: theisa@uwstout.edu; Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin; Rykal, Sarah
Subject: RE: Can we meet next week?
That will work. Why don’t we just meet in the Commons Sunken Lounge. It is pretty quiet out there at this time.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
33
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Selz, James
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2012 4:02 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Subject: Local
The first attachment is a list of all the spend for 2011 with Reinhart, our prime vendor. These are sorted by vendor
name. The second attachment is a list of the companies that are from within the 250 mile radius. This is from several
sources, including a list of Wisconsin Food Processing companies, company websites, info I have gotten from vendors,
etc. I have not done any extrapolating of the info, so that the students can now take this and pull out the spend from
the companies that are on this list. There could perhaps be a few more that fit the area, as I know a few are from Iowa
and Illinois, but they are not big spend companies. I thought they could start with this, and see how it goes. Once they
get this number, they can send it to me and I can then use that against the total purchases.
I will be out of the office Wednesday and Thursday, of this week, so if there are any questions, I may not get to them
until next week. I am just sending this to you, in case you wanted to look at it first, and also, so you can give them the
game plan for analyzing the data.
Thanks.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Hain, Katelyn [mailto:haink@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 5:54 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Cc: Willmarth, Kristina
Subject: Re: Meeting?
Hi Sarah‐
34
We are still interested in working to populate the FarmPlate database. As of now, we've just browsed through a few
websites such as LocalHarvest.org to compare and contrast farms with FarmPlate. If you have a break anytime this week,
one of us can just touch base in a short meeting to discuss this. Let us know what time works for you and we
can accommodate.
Next week, we'd like to set up a second meeting to discuss the STARS program more, learn about Kristina's project this
summer and finalize how to organize the information that we received from Jim today. Tuesdays and Thursday seem to
be working for most of us, but another time can work too.
Also, Friday‐ are you attending a workshop for the food hub? Is this something one of us should still consider attending?
How long is the workshop?
Cheers,
Katelyn Hain
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 3:00 PM
To: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Cc: Willmarth, Kristina
Subject: RE: Meeting?
Hi everyone,
Could we meet next Tuesday at 10am in the 225 Administration Conference Room?
Also, the food hub meeting is TOMORROW at the River Falls Public Library. The agenda is listed below. If any of you
would like to attend, please let me know ASAP, so I can get you on the RSVP list.
8:30–9:00 Registration/Light Breakfast
9:00–9:10 Introductions
9:10‐10:00 History/Localized Food Data/Target Area (Kelly Cain)
10:00–10:15 Break
10:15–12:00 Fifth Season Model (Diane Chapeta & Sue Noble)
12:00–12:30 Lunch
12:30–1:45 Developing a Food Hub Model/Business Plan (Diane Chapeta & Sue Noble)
1:45–2:00 Break
2:00–3:00 Next Steps and Assignments including questionnaire/letter of commitment
Thanks everyone!
Sarah
From: Melcarek, Ryan [mailto:melcarekr@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 12:59 PM
To: Sandin, Caitlin
35
Cc: Rykal, Sarah; Hain, Katelyn; Zweber, Steve; Willmarth, Kristina
Subject: Re: Meeting?
Yea tuesday at 10 works for me.
Ryan
On Apr 4, 2012, at 5:13 PM, "Sandin, Caitlin" <sandinc@my.uwstout.edu> wrote:
Unfortunately, I cannot make it at 10 am on Tuesday because I have Ecology lab until 11:05. Our schedules just don't
match up.
Caitlin Sandin
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Environmental Science Major
Hi everyone,
I know some of you can’t make it, but can we still have the meeting at 10am on Tuesday in 225 Admin? Hopefully Steve
and Ryan can relay the info to the rest of your group.
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Hain, Katelyn [mailto:haink@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:04 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: meeting next tuesday?
Hi Sarah‐
Thank you for being so flexible to meet with us thus far! Are you available to meet for a short meeting on Tuesday at
1pm? Our final report will be uploaded on your website and we'd like to go over the issues and benchmarks you'd like
to see. We have a draft started and a format to follow that we can show you. If this works for you please let us know,
otherwise name another time. Looking forward to hearing back‐
Katelyn Hain & group
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 11:33 AM
36
To: Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: meeting next tuesday?
Hi Katelyn,
I could meet at 1:15 tomorrow, if that works. Let me know.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hey y'all!
225 Administration sounds perfect. See you then.
Sent from my rotary phone.
On Apr 16, 2012, at 7:47 PM, "Sandin, Caitlin" <sandinc@my.uwstout.edu> wrote:
I can be there too. I have class until 1:15 so I might be a little late.
Caitlin Sandin
Caitlin Sandin
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Environmental Science Major
From: Zweber, Steve
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 7:43 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah; Hain, Katelyn
Cc: Sandin, Caitlin; Melcarek, Ryan
Subject: RE: meeting next tuesday?
I can be there at 1:15 tomorrow, administration building as usual?
‐Steve
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 2:27 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: Have you heard from Jim?
Hi Sarah,
Have you heard back from Jim concerning the information from Kemp's? If we can get the purchasing data will we
assume them to meet the criteria?
37
Thanks,
Steve
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 4:19 PM
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Have you heard from Jim?
Hey Steve,
Just sent an email to Jim, so waiting to hear back.
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 1:08 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Have you heard from Jim?
Hey Sarah,
After researching all of the companies on the 250 mile list Jim gave us, these are mine and Ryan's findings.
Company
Total Purchases
Arbre Farms Corporation
$632.85
Barilla America Inc.
$2,001.50
Best Maid Cookie Company
$47.94
Ellsworth Co‐op Creamery
$91.06
Foremost Farms USA
$26,100.14
Gold’n Plump Fresh
$6,310.09
Lakeside Foods
$7,999.16
Organic Valley Co‐op
$195.92
38
Riverside Foods
$3,355.44
Sculpture Ice
$61.30
Silver Springs Garden Inc.
$225.47
Westby Co‐op Creamery
$24.31
Total:
$47,045.18
This is a list of the only companies that technically meet the STARS criteria. Obviously if we decide to include Kemps and
Hormel this would make a large difference. Hormel owns 3 or 4 other companies Stout purchases a substantial amount
from, but I believe it would be a major stretch to include them.
What do you think?
‐Steve
From: Rykal, Sarah [rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 1:38 PM
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: Have you heard from Jim?
Hi Steve,
Are these the only companies from Jim’s list that you feel fit the STARS criteria? Or are you still researching others from
that list? I believe that we can include Kemps (and include our assumptions in the Notes section of STARS). I don’t know
enough about Hormel to know if they should be included. Have you contacted them to see if they have any info of
where they source their ingredients from?
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Melcarek, Ryan
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: Rykal,Sarah; Hain, Katelyn; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE
Just an update, Bakers quality pizza crust got back to me today and they fit the Stars Critera, making the total 61,156.45
without including the larger companies such as Kemps and Hormel and a few others. As Steve said these are the only
companies whose products technically fit the STARS criteria, even with some assumptions made in their favor. If we
loosen the criteria then we could fit more, but this seems besides the point of the whole STARS program.
39
Just my two cents,
Ryan
On Apr 19, 2012, at 2:09 PM, "Zweber, Steve" <zwebers@my.uwstout.edu> wrote:
Yes those are the only companies we feel fit the STARS criteria so far. We are still waiting to hear back from a few
companies such as Bakers Quality Pizza Crust, Bay State Milling Company, and we still have a few beyond that to
investigate. However, I feel it is difficult to count a lot of these major corporations. Many are national or international
and cannot tell us where their ingredients come from. The information Jim provided is also lacking which specific plants
Stout is purchasing from, we only know the name of the companies.
I added you to the active google doc "copy of 2011 Spend" you can view our notes and track where we are currently.
Thanks,
Steve
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2012 4:16 PM
To: Selz, James
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Subject: UWRF STARS Data
Hi Jim,
As promised, here is the UWRF STARS data: https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/university‐of‐wisconsin‐river‐falls‐
wi/report/2012‐01‐13/7/28/178/
If you’d like actual reports from Sodexho and Jerry Waller, let me know and I can email Jerry.
Also, after talking to some of my contacts at other schools, it would be best for us to audit everything as best we can and
find the percentage that is “grown and processed within 250 miles of the institution” as STARS requires. I’m told that
we’ll have to make some assumptions, but if we can get an idea of the overall picture, that would be best, rather than
trying to reach the 50% mark.
Please let me know if you have any questions. And thanks again for all your help with this. I truly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Rykal
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
715.232.5254
www.uwstout.edu/sustainability
40
From: Selz, James
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 1:32 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Thies, Ann
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Sarah,
I looked at what UWRF submitted on this sight, and am sure many of the items are not both grown and processed within
250 of River Falls. The list includes Caribou Coffee. We know the coffee beans are not grown locally. So, this should not
be included. The list includes Stockyard Meats, which butchers locally, but doesn’t say all their meat is from the 250
mile radius. I know some of the other vendors would be in the same boat.
More importantly, I was at a forum of food manufacturers and other universities, in Chicago last week, and talked to
purchasers and managers from several large and small, and public and private universities, about this topic. They all
said there is no way for them, to determine that items they are purchasing are from within 250 miles, grown and
produced. They said, like we, they can find where things are produced, or manufactured, but not where the items are
grown, for the most part. I also met with several manufacturers during this forum. I quizzed them on the likelihood
they can tell where everything they produce, comes from. In most cases, they have no idea except they know the
regions they buy from. So, a California based tomato packer can tell you the farms they typically buy their products
from. However, they cannot confirm that the tomatoes in a particular can of ketchup come from a farm a certain
distance from wherever. This is the case for most items manufactured, except for those where the source is required to
be tracked. So, we go back to the old issue. If we need to know for sure the items grown and produced within 250 miles
of Stout, then the list is pretty short. It would be Kemp’s dairy, and perhaps a couple smaller producers. We then also
need to realize that all schools are reporting differently. River Falls would be lucky to have 10%, if they took out the
coffee and other items not grown within 250 miles. There is no way Oshkosh, or any other school, for that matter,
would even come close to 20% of spend. it just is not possible. So, how do we proceed. We know we are not
comparing apples to apples with just us, River Falls and Oshkosh. In fact in the case of Oshkosh, we are not even
comparing anything close, if we do the 250 mile thing.
So, if we do the 250 mile grown and produced, I will give you the Kemp’s info, and that would be pretty much it.
Otherwise, the list of purchases I gave you last week from Reinhart should have what you need to extrapolate
purchases.
Let me know if you need something else, as well as what direction you decide to go for the STARS info.
Thanks.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 5:21 PM
41
To: Selz, James
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your email. I have been thinking about some of the points you brought up and talking to the STARS person at
UWRF, trying to figure out the best way for UW‐Stout to complete this assessment for STARS. To clarify, there are TWO
potential criteria for the STARS Dining Services assessment:
1.
2.
Grown and processed within 250 miles of the institution or
Third‐party certified (USDA Organic, Marine Stewardship Council Blue Ecolabel, Food Alliance, Fair Trade,
Certified Humane Raised and Handled)
Given the #2 criteria, the Caribou Coffee from UWRF would be eligible because it’s Fair Trade certified. After talking to
UWRF, they said that when they do the STARS assessment again, they would like to drill down with more data from
Stockyard Meats, Kemps, Earthgrains, and some of the other purchases they cited, to try to decipher approximate
percentages that are within the 250 mile radius. For instance, calling Stockyard to see where they source the cuts of
meat that UWRF orders. They admitted they probably could’ve done more and after their first try, they will dig deeper
on their second try.
I felt like this was good info for us, as we proceed forward. I know that there are definitely cases where finding where
the ingredients are grown will be an impossible task, as you pointed out. So maybe our best course of action would be
to look at companies like Kemps, Bush’s Beans, Stockyard Meats, our bread supplier, and any others that we know are
definitely processed within the 250 miles and then have the students inquire about where they are grown, as we
discussed at our last meeting. For example, contacting Bush’s Beans to see if the beans are grown entirely in Wisconsin.
If companies are reluctant to give them that information, I think we can discuss including it into our “local” assessment,
but making notes within the STARS system to explain why they were included. For example, if Kemps isn’t willing to tell
us if the suppliers are within a certain radius, we could include them but in our STARS notes, we can include something
like, “The processing facility is within x miles of the institution and we made the assumption that they were pulling from
suppliers within x miles of their facility because we were not able to get complete records of all suppliers.”
Let me know your thoughts on that, Jim. I’m all ears. Also, I’d like to add that if we buy any products that are Fair Trade
or Organic certified (as in criteria #2), we can definitely add those to our list. I’m not certain about the Starbucks coffee
or any other products, but this could be a possibility.
Thanks so much for all your help with this!
Sarah
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:27 PM
To: Selz, James
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Hi Jim,
42
I’m writing to follow up on my last two emails regarding the STARS assessment with the Sustainable Design and
Development students. They are in the process of researching the companies within 250 miles of UW‐Stout (from the
list you provided) and we’re now wondering if it would be possible to get a listing of ALL purchases from 2011, rather
than just the Reinhart purchases. Could you provide us with the purchases for US Foods, Kemps, Country Hearth, and
any other companies that we buy from?
If you have any thoughts on any of this or what I’ve written in the previous two emails, please let me know.
Thanks for your cooperation, Jim!
Sarah
From: Selz, James
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 3:07 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
I have checked with some of the companies that process products within the 250 miles (some can foods, some freeze,
etc.). What I am being told, is that the FDA requires them to be able to track the farm where everything comes from, in
case of any kind of outbreak or recall. So, theoretically, they can track any item to its origin. However, they were quick
to point out that this would be for the purpose of safety, and not just to find out where every can of product someone
buys, come from. They would not do this to prove something is local, as it would be and endless amount of time. If it
were done, they would have to look at every can and box of product we got, take the codes, and the trace it back. So,
this is not an option.
I can send you a list of all items we buy off our computer system, by vendor. Not sure if this is of value or not. This will
not have brands or anything, just the quantities of each item we buy. However, this data is available off our system, just
not in the purchase recap report. US could probably give us a printout of what we have purchased from them, but some
of the other companies we buy from, are still fairly primitive when it comes to collecting data. I have a feeling, you will
only be showing the few items we know are produced within 250 miles, from products in the same range, like Ellsworth
and Kemp’s, and that will be pretty much it.
Let me know if you want me to get you info of purchases off our system.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 4:19 PM
To: Selz, James
43
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your email and your thoughts. I understand the many barriers with getting this kind of information, so I think
the best idea is for us to make some assumptions, but to explain in the notes section of STARS what the assumptions are
that we make. With this in mind, I believe the students are looking for:
1.
the total dollar amount of food purchased in 2011, and
2.
the dollar amount of food purchased from each of the companies you listed in the 250 mile radius (in 2011).
Would it be possible to get those numbers? Also, do you have purchase information similar to the Reinhart info you
provided for all the other companies?
Thanks so much!
Sarah
From: Selz, James [SelzJ@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 4:59 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Zweber, Steve
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
This is our spend for the last 12 months for the companies we buy our food and supplies from. This doesn’t include any
companies we buy c‐store, liquor, and non food items from.
$
23,776.00
$ 196,728.00
$1,190,077.00
$ 40,662.00
$ 122,983.00
BakeMark
Kemp’s
Reinhart
Roma
US Foods
Bakery Supplies
Dairy & Ice Cream
Groceries, Cheese, Meat, Juice, Coffee, Fresh Produce
Pizza Supplies
Fresh Produce and Misc Groceries
Getting the list like the one from Reinhart, will take some time. We are not set up with other companies, to get this, so
they may or may not be able to do it. If you want this, I can request it, but I am very busy the next couple weeks, along
with being out of town at conferences, so it could be a month or more before I would get that data.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 5:14 PM
44
To: Selz, James; Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Jim,
Do you mean those numbers are the total purchases for the 2011 calendar year, or is this the last 12 months to date. I
understand if we cannot get a list from the other companies like the one from Reinhart, so let's not worry about that for
now. You have already been a huge help on this project and we appreciate all of your hard work.
Thanks,
Steve Zweber
From: Selz, James [SelzJ@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 5:18 PM
To: Zweber, Steve; Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
These numbers are spend from the last 12 months, which I can get real easily, as our menu management tracks
everything for the last 12 months. Typically, a year’s spend is the same, no matter when you start and stop, as long as it
is 12 months. If you want 2011, I can also get that, but that will come from a different source.
Jim Selz, Assistant Director
University Dining Service
University of Wisconsin‐Stout
Phone: 715‐232‐1178
Fax: 715‐232‐2341
Email: selzj@uwstout.edu
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 5:21 PM
To: Selz, James; Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Hain, Katelyn; Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
If it is typically the same then these numbers should be fine.
Thanks Jim,
Steve
From: Rykal, Sarah [mailto:rykals@uwstout.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 9:40 AM
To: Zweber, Steve
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
45
Hi Steve,
I’m looking at the STARS calculation (page 115) and wondering if the data should be from the same time period as the
Reinhart data, to make sure everything is consistent. Do you have thoughts on that?
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 5:47 PM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Hain, Katelyn
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Hey sorry about the late response Sarah, the total amount matches our data exactly. Jim’s email was kind of confusing
but I think the numbers will work fine.
However, let’s not worry about this at the moment seeing we do not know about Kemp’s. I am currently trying to
contact University of Minnesota –Morris to learn a little more about their program. Morris only received a 2.4 rating for
their dining purchases (https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/university‐of‐minnesota‐morris‐mn/report/2012‐02‐
18/#ec_2_10) so I think it is important we find out how strict they were in their assessment.
Attached is some information on the program they implemented to bring more local foods into their campus dining. I
believe the steps they took to get to where they are currently are similar to what Stout will need to do.
Some more light reading on U of M‐Morris:
http://www.prideoftheprairie.org/about
http://www.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/foodandhealth/LocalFoods2010.pdf
http://www.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/foodandhealth/
Let me know what you think about this concept.
Thanks,
Steve
From: Rykal, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 4:07 PM
To: Zweber, Steve
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Hain, Katelyn
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
Hi Steve,
46
This is really good info and I’m glad you’re tapping into Morris as a model. They are doing a lot with local food, so it’s
interesting they only reported 2.4 for their rating. Do you all plan to include next steps for sourcing more local food into
your report? That would be great.
Thanks,
Sarah
From: Zweber, Steve [mailto:zwebers@my.uwstout.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 10:22 AM
To: Rykal, Sarah
Cc: Melcarek, Ryan; Sandin, Caitlin; Hain, Katelyn
Subject: RE: UWRF STARS Data
That is what I hope to learn from the staff at Morris. It sounds like they started with a “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” campaign,
which I remember discussing with you the other week. I will let you know when we get more information. Please keep
us informed as to what else you would like to see in the report.
Thanks,
Steve
From: Jenna Deardorff [mailto:jdeardor@morris.umn.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 1:44 PM
To: Zweber, Steve
Subject: Morris AASHE STARS Reporting
Hi Steve,
My name is Jenna Deardorff and I work at the University of Minnesota Morris with the Morris Healthy Eating initiative.
Troy Goodnough forwarded your e‐mail to me regarding Sodexo and AASHE STARS reporting. I worked quite a bit on
our dining services report this year and am also involved with other local food systems work here in Morris.
I would also be happy to talk with you if you have additional questions about our process. My office number is 320‐589‐
6457.
Have a good day,
Jenna Deardorff
Office of Community Engagement Assistant Coordinator
Morris Healthy Eating Assistant Coordinator
Welcome Center 205
University of Minnesota, Morris
600 E. 4th St.
Morris, MN 56267
(320) 589‐6457
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From: Jenna Deardorff [mailto:jdeardor@morris.umn.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 4:19 PM
To: Zweber, Steve
Subject: Re: Morris AASHE STARS Reporting
Hi Steve,
This link will take you to the Morris Healthy Eating website, where you can download the Community Food Assessment
we talked about (at the bottom of the page).
http://morris.umn.edu/healthyeating/foodassessment/
I don't believe I have our sustainability plan in electronic form, but I can share our tiers with you:
 Priority 1: Pride of the Prairie farmers and growers; Buy Fresh Buy Local Upper Minnesota River Valley; locally
and sustainably grown; Within 100 miles of Morris
 Priority 2: Small Minnesota owned business; Minnesota/regionally grown and processed; Food Alliance or other
sustainability certification; Within 250 miles of Morris
 Priority 3: Third‐party certified as USDA Organic, sustainably raised (Food Alliance) or Fair Trade; beyond 250
miles of Morris
 Priority 4: Locally/regionally grown and processed within 250 miles of Morris without organic or sustainability
certification
We then group other US‐grown/produced foods as Tier 5 and food grown/produced outside the US as Tier 6.
If you haven't already seen it, the Real Food Challenge website (www.realfoodchallenge.org) also has some good
resources. Our students are currently working to have this commitment signed on our campus, as well.
Good luck!
Jenna
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