Sustainable Food Steps at Brandeis

  • All dining locations serve a fair trade coffee option with three locations serving fair trade exclusively.
  • Cage Free Eggs available as an option in various dining locations.
  • Organic items are available for sale in the new P.O.D. convenience store.
  • Java City offers a discount to customers who use refillable mug.
  • "Eating in does not mean take out" campaign in retail location to encourage china use over to go container use.
  • Trayless Dinning in Sherman
  • Commercially compost waste from the dining halls at WeCare Environmental in Marlboro, Massachusetts
  • A campus Farmers Market was started in Fall 2008
  • Working to increase purchase of local foods

    Sustainable Food


    Why are local and sustainable foods important?

    1. Responsibility

    Local food means farmers and consumers can stay connected and engage with each other. Farmers can earn fairer wages, and consumers can have the confidence that their food was grown with care. Consumers can also become “co-producers,” a term coined by the founder of the Slow Food movement Carlo Petrini. Co-producers are intimately engaged in how their food is produced (even if they never actually grow it themselves) because they become aware of the seasons, the way the weather or pests affect crops, and the in-and-outs of raising food sustainability. As Petrini describes, “To be a co-producer means to be responsible.  It means to be rich in culture, education, understanding how food is made, understanding the necessities of farmers.  Become active, not passive people.”

    2. Local Economy

    Local food purchases keep money in the local community and create local jobs. Local farms are part of the community. They provide green-space, wild-life habitat, and food, and usually employ community members. They also buy local goods, send their children to local schools, and form part of the community.

    3. Local food tastes better

    Local food is picked at the peak of ripeness, and sold to the consumer usually on the same day that it is picked. Consumers can enjoy fresh produce that has not been shipped long distances and artificially ripened.  Consumers can also enjoy specialty crops, or rare varieties of produce, that large-scale farmers would not produce or that are too fragile to ship.

    How can I support local and sustainable food?