Purchasing Guidelines

Purchasing Guidelines for Institutional Purchasing

In 2007, the Sustainable Food Project received a SARE grant to write an expanded set of definitions for dining halls to use across the northeast. They were published in the summer of 2008, and are a great tool for institutions considering making the transition to sustainable purchasing. Read a pdf here or email us to request a printed copy.

What is sustainable purchasing?

“Sustainable” has become a popular buzzword, but what does it really mean? The Yale Sustainable Food Project uses the word as a tool to aid in making practical decisions. We say that “a practice can be called sustainable if and only if it can be continued indefinitely without degrading the systems and resources upon which it relies.”

Deciding whether a farm or producer is sustainable requires care and attention. The Sustainable Food Project’s gold standard for purchasing is food that is local and sustainable. When a local, sustainable option is not available, we recommend looking locally for farmers to help build that supply. When an item cannot be grown locally—bananas or coffee, for example—we recommend ingredients that are certified fair trade and sustainable, or certified organic from elsewhere. Each decision is meant to foster practices that sustain the health of the soil, the environment, communities, and the people producing and eating food.

The default sources for institutional dining—like many brand names found on grocery shelves—often provide uniform quality and economies of scale at a cost to taste, nutrition, environmental health, and local communities.

We offer these guidelines so that institutions and individuals have the tools they need to build a better food system, for the health of people and the land.

Basic Guidelines:

Vegetables

First Tier (ranked in order of preference)

Connecticut organic
Connecticut ecologically-grown
Regional organic
Regional ecologically-grown
Connecticut conventional (small-scale operation)
Regional conventional (small-scale operation)

Second Tier (ranked in order of preference)

Connecticut conventional (medium-scale operation)
Regional conventional (medium-scale operation)
U.S. organic (small-scale operation)
Connecticut conventional (large-scale operation)
Regional conventional (large-scale operation)
U.S. ecologically-grown (small-scale operation)

Third Tier (ranked in order of preference)

U.S. organic (medium/large-scale operation)
North America organic
U.S. ecologically-grown (medium/large-scale operation)
International organic
U.S. conventional (small-scale operation)

Fruit

First Tier (ranked in order of preference)

Connecticut organic
Connecticut IPM
Regional Organic
Regional IPM
Connecticut conventional (small-scale operation)
Regional conventional (small scale operation)
Connecticut conventional (medium scale operation

Second Tier (ranked in order of preference)

Regional conventional (medium scale operation)
U.S. organic (small/medium scale operation)
U.S. IMP (small/medium scale operation)
Connecticut conventional (large-scale operation)
U.S. organic (large-scale operation)
U.S. IPM (large-scale operation)
International organic
U.S. Conventional

Meat and Poultry

First Tier (ranked in order of preference)

Connecticut free-range/pasture-fed
Connecticut organic
Regional free-range/pasture-fed
Regional organic
Regional conventional (small-scale operation)

Second Tier (ranked in order of preference)

U.S. free-range/pasture fed
U.S. organic (small/medium scale operation)
Conventional (small/medium-scale operation)
U.S. organic (large-scale operation)
U.S. conventional (large-scale operation)