Brandeis Dining Sustainability Dashboard
Facts about New England Agriculture
16 million: Acres of farmland needed to feed New England's population
2 million: Actual acres of farmland in New England
12%: Amount of food consumed in New England actually produced in New England
How much does it cost to reduce carbon?
Lighting project: $200,000. The cost of the LED lighting project in the SCC in 2018
Menu change: $0. Reducing beef in our menus (4% less beef = 2% lower footprint)
Both of these initiatives reduce 50 metric tons of carbon per year
Foods grown or raised in New England
Goal: 2% annual increase in percent of total food spend in dollars
2021 goal: 4.3% 2022 goal: 6.3%
Baseline (2019) 2.3% ($92k)
Fall 2020 2.4% ($21.0k)
Spring 2021 3.9% ($32.4k)
Fall 2021 3.9% ($85.6K)
Fish, cranberries, blueberries, various vegetables, and dairy are the most common types of New England-grown or raised foods we've purchased this year.
Our New England-sourced food goals are guided by Prof. Brian Donahue's A New England Food Vision
Foods with sustainable attributes
Goal: 2% annual increase in percent of total food spend
2021 goal: 6.5% 2022 goal: 8.5%
Baseline (2019) 4.5% ($183.8k)
Fall 2020 5.6% ($49.0)
Spring 2021 7.3% ($60.8k)
Fall 2021 4.3% ($93.9K)
Sustainable attributes include:
Certified Humane, Cage Free, Certified Fair Trade, Certified Organic, MSC Certified, non-GMO certified, Seafood Watch Best Choice or Good Alternative, fish sourced from Red's Best, and foods that are part of the Future 50 foods program
Food Carbon Footprint
Includes required categories of Cool Food Calculator
2022 Goal: 6.6 kgCO2e/kg
Units: kilograms of carbon dioxide-equivalent per kilogram of food purchased
Fall 2020 8.33 kg CO2e/kg food
Spring 2021 6.6 kg CO2e/kg food
Fall 2021 6.8 kg CO2e/kg food
How did we reduce our food footprint?
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Reduced amount of beef in menus, replacing it with other proteins
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Increased plant-based protein sources and plant-based menu options
Plant vs. Animal-based protein sources
Goal: Annual increase
Baseline: 10.7% plant-based Fall 2021: 16.9%
Fall 2021 Spring 2021 Fall 2020 Baseline (2019)
Animal-based 83.1% 76.1% 84.7% 89.3%
Plant-based 16.9% 23.9% 15.3% 10.7%