from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
|
|
JAFSCD is the world’s only community-supported journal. JAFSCD content is open access (free) thanks to the generous support of our shareholders: the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, Library Shareholders, a growing number of Individual Shareholders, and our seven JAFSCD Partners: |
|
|
JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Catherine G. Campbell (U of Florida), Cody Gusto (U of Florida), and John Diaz (U of Florida) |
|
|
Institutional foodservice programs provide food in school cafeterias, hospitals, prisons, and institutions of higher education. Because of its large market size, institutional foodservice has the possibility to influence substantial change in food systems. Values-based institutional food procurement prioritizes criteria beyond price, such as supporting local food economies, sustainability, farmworker justice, and animal welfare. While there are existing models and frameworks designed to support institutions seeking to adopt and implement values-based procurement practices, metrics in these frameworks are frequently not adapted to the local context where the institution is located. In addition, due to the scale and complexity of university dining programs, some universities have had difficulty with using existing programs.
In a new JAFSCD article, “Locally supported, values-based framework for a university foodservice program: Results of a Delphi study,” University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences authors Campbell, Gusto, and Diaz present the results of a Delphi study that identified expert consensus on locally developed, values-based framework that can be used to guide a university foodservice program. Corresponding author Catherine G. Campbell can be contacted at cgcampbell@ufl.edu.
KEY FINDINGS - Local food system stakeholder experts reached consensus on eight core value categories that could be the foundation of a locally adaptable values-based university procurement model:
-
Excellence, integrity, and authenticity
- Fairness, justice, and workforce
- Environmental sustainability and stewardship
- Local economies
- Nutrition and food safety
- Cultural diversity
- Community connection and partnerships
- Animal welfare
-
Food system experts identified specific measures and metrics for monitoring a values-based university food service program, such as monitoring year-over-year improvement in standardized sustainability metrics and tracking growth in the percentage of dollars spent on food from local farms and food businesses.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH -
Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency as a means to increase accountability, equity, and sustainability in food systems. Adoption of values-based procurement programs with objective measures and monitoring is an important way for institutions to demonstrate a commitment to their stated values.
-
Institutions should consider adopting a values-based framework to guide their university dining program to support local economies and support regional food system development
- Institutional policymakers and food system stakeholders could use the methodology employed in this study to identify values, measures, and metrics that could be used by institutions in their communities tailored to unique social, cultural and bio-physical characteristics of their regional food system.
|
Photo above: Chef Bearl conducts a cooking demonstration. UF/IFAS photo by Tyler Jones. Free for use for UF/IFAS faculty and staff. |
More from these authors: Catherine G. Campbell (U of Florida), Cody Gusto (U of Florida), and John Diaz (U of Florida) Values-based institutional food procurement programs: A narrative review
Food provided in school cafeterias, hospitals, prisons, and institutions of higher education is referred to as “institutional foodservice.” Institutions that have adopted values-based procurement policies have documented increases in purchases of local, sustainable food from cooperatively and independently owned farms. These programs have increased consumer and decision-maker awareness of opportunities to leverage institutional purchasing to support food systems change.
Read the full article here. |
|
|
This email is sent to you as a notification of the newest JAFSCD articles and other occasional JAFSCD news. |
|
JAFSCD is an open access, community-supported journal! Your library, program, or organization can become a shareholder to help keep JAFSCD's content available to all, regardless of their resources. We welcome anyone to become an individual shareholder; donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
| |
|
|
