SOS 327: Sustainable Food and Farms, Spring 2011 Dr. HallieEakin Ms. Katie Talbot

Fruits and Vegetables #1 Maureen Roxborough Peter Goldman Alena Martinez-Hart Kathleen Palmer Jordan Masciorini Santino Panico

Sustainability Concerns with Fruit and Vegetable Production in the

Current Food System:

*Overuse of Synthetic Fertilizers, i.e. Pesticides-1.2 billions pounds used per year (Rodale, 2010). *Food Miles and Lack of Community Involvement in Food System, Consumers are often unaware of where their fruits and vegetables are sourced, as food travels an average of 1,500 miles to reach the plate (Goodall, 2009). *Unfair and Inhumane Labor Conditions for Fruit and Vegetable Farmers *Pre and Post Consumer Food Waste *Externalities of the Food Treadmill of Production

Alternative Sourcing Options Available:

*Purchase organic fruits and vegetables from producers that maintain a stringent policy on limiting their external output of the farm (ex. nutrient runoff ) and considerations such as distance. *Local purchasing can alleviate food miles.The food that is local should truly be ‘local’ in nature. *Fair trade purchasing can address some of the the unfair and inhumane treatment of workers and prevent child labor and general abuse of farm workers *Community Building events can address post and pre consumer waste issues (i.e. composting near or on campus).

• Quality Assurance & Environmental health

• Farmers Health and livelihood is maintained

Pros Cons Alternative Sourcing Options

USDA Organic Purchasing

• Supplies needed for ASU may be difficult to attain

• Price increase ranging from 10-15% (ex. non organic Bananas .69¢lb, organic .79¢lb)

Local Purchasing • Impacts Livelihoods of Distant Farmers

• Supplies needed for ASU may be difficult to attain

• Maintains Ecological relationships & increase community food security • Maintaining Local Jobs increasing & reducing transportation

Community Building • Land procurement needed & infrastructure need to be set up

• May have high installation cost & supplies created will not meet all ASU demands

• Knowing the Source of Produce • Maintaining Local Jobs increasing community security

Fair Trade • Livelihood of Distant Farmers/Societies maintained • Quality Assurance & maintaining Ecological Relations

• Higher Prices & increased transportation use

• Lack of supply to meet ASU demands

Evaluation of ASU’s Current Food System:

*Failure to Meet Principled Practice Sustainability Goal and Lack of Transparency: -Discouragement of an open/participatory process

*Lack of Sustainable Fruit and Vegetable Options, i.e. Organic, Local, Fair Trade -Total percentage of food budget allotted for sustainable purchasing is unknown

-Between the 2 most ‘sustainable’ dining halls on campus, less than 10% of their food is organic and less than 30% is from local sources, i.e. Hassayampa: 1-2% organic, 13% local (Shum, 2011).

*Lack of Community (Student/Faculty) Involvement *Food Waste, currently no system in place that allows for organic food waste to be diverted from landfills; out of sight out of mind mentality *Externalities of the Food Treadmill of Production

Recommendation to ASU: *Integrate the REAL FOOD CHALLENGE into the

university’s Sustainability goals

*Co-founded by Hai Vo at the University of California-Irvine-a university under contract with ARAMARK *330 universities/colleges are currently participating in the RFC

Why the Real Food Challenge? *The RFC seeks to reallocate the 4.2 billion dollars spent on food annually at universities towards real food *The overall goal is to have 20%of all campus food to be ‘Real Food’ by 2020.

*The RFC assesses food purchasing options with the “Real Food Calculator” which is able to provide “in-depth definitions of "real food" and a tracking system for institutional purchasing. With this tool, "real food" is broken down into four core categories: local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound, and humane”

What is ‘Real Food?’ *That which seeks to nourish equal access, consumer/producer health, education, farm workers’ rights, local, fair trade, and organic products.

How Can ASU Meet The Goals Of The Real Food Challenge?

*Integrate the RFC into ASU’s Sustainability Principles *Community Development (Awareness), Push for Organic/Local/Fair Trade Purchasing Options and Composting on Campus *Live the Sustainability That it Preaches