CoFED, the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, supports over 40 student teams in regions across North America. CoFED serves as a network and training program that empowers students to create ethically-sourced, cooperatively-run food enterprises on college campuses. AASHE recently spoke with founder and Co-Director Yoni Landau and Danny Spitzberg, Lead Trainer and Co-Director. Continue reading to learn more about CoFED initiatives, challenges, and where they see the future of student organizing for sustainable food.

If you are interested in participating in the AASHE Interview Series, email Niles Barnes at niles@aashe.org.

What are CoFED’s main areas of focus within the food systems sustainability movement, and how does CoFED fit into the larger, global movement toward a low-carbon, more sustainable future?

Yoni: CoFED is primarily a network of student leaders and peer-facilitated trainings. We help sustainability-minded students gain the skills they need to create their values in the world after they graduate. And, CoFED helps them develop a delicious platform to bring their peers into the movement. Student teams supported by CoFED are creating community-oriented, ethically-sourced food ventures. This has real potential for positive impact. Consumption is a big part of the story, but production is a bigger part of a story rarely told - meat production alone is said to account for as much as 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If we are going to address climate change and environmental damage, we need to address this major polluter through education and alternatives.

Danny: For institutions of higher education, their impact goes beyond direct economic value or research and knowledge. Before a student comes into college, they may have never made real decisions for themselves - this is a time where identities, values, and habits coalesce and ideally, with career paths that align with those values. If we are serious about mitigating climate change, we need agricultural reform on a large scale. We must build a diverse, thriving and resilient movement that can both demand and create change in our food system - as cooperative organizers, leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Where do you see CoFED in the next five years in terms of programs and impact?

Danny: In five years, we will have thriving member storefronts on roughly 40 campuses and we will have trained several thousand student leaders. Any university that wants to empower their students with this model should have the ability to do so. We’ll get there by evolving our resources so that models can pay competitive rent, provide positive, valuable educational experiences, and by helping our regional networks of students thrive with support from mentors and CoFED alumni alike - those are some of our more immediate plans.

Yoni: also, students empowered by CoFED will be running people for office in several states, and others will be creating student-worker hybrid cooperative foodservice operations on campuses across the continent. OK, I might have made that one up....or did I...?

What are the main challenges for CoFED?

Danny: Student turnover is our greatest asset and most motivating liability. We see ourselves as a network of cooperative leaders and cooperative entrepreneurs, and getting involved means building your group and replacing yourself in the process! We’re fairly clear about what we mean by those terms - the function of cooperative leadership is to empower more leaders, and the aim of cooperative entrepreneurship is to pursue opportunities for collective gain through directly democratic means. So, most of our programming - our organizing, our coaching, the events we run - focuses on seeding and growing healthy institutional memory and an eager network to support it on campus and between schools, too. They take deep interest in their different projects and become friends and peer-mentors.

How do you track progress and success throughout the organization, and how is CoFED doing by those measures?

Yoni: Back in the Fall of 2010, we projected it would take most teams at least 2 years of organizing to open a storefront - after nearly two years of doing this work, we’re happy to say that we’re hitting that target with folks in New Mexico opening a storefront (and being asked to expand!) and 5 start-up teams that have raised over $150,000. We’ll likely see a few more cafés and grocery operations open in 2013, too.

How do you see the role of student activism in the campus sustainability movement?

Danny: Any significant change needs people pulling the mainstream along and people pushing at the fringes. Students are and should be pushing at the edges - creating the next innovative idea or demanding that we move away from the status quo. Students are also quick to see and feel the connections between sustainability and race, class, and gender issues, as well as the privilege of education and opportunity. Anti-oppression principles and practices are fundamental to our work, as we strive for inclusivity. If we are going to have a “movement” that includes communities that are traditionally marginalized, it’s almost definitely going to be led, in large part, by young people.

How is CoFED working to forge partnerships with other like-minded organizations and individuals?

Yoni: The Real Food Challenge initially incubated our training and has been a big brother to us since the beginning. Thanks, friends!
We have literally dozens of coalition allies, from Slow Money to NASCO to Net Impact, groups we respect deeply and learn from. It’s so important to take the time to meet the other folks in the room, from figuring out what database tools, to using their training resources, to being inspired to work smarter by their successes.
It’s vital to have a broad coalition not because every project needs to be a partnership, but because when something bigger than all of us is ready to happen, like federal policy around climate change or significant food systems reform, having relationships of trust in place makes it possible.

How does CoFED encourage students to effect top-down change from the senior administration of the university or college?

Danny: “Top-down” change happens when a critical mass of people organize to demand it as citizens, not mere consumers. Campus life has more in common with the rest of a students life before and after, except that education is the explicit focus, and idealism may be at an all-time high. CoFED harnesses idealism and pragmatism to show how another world is possible, and actively being created. We want that idealism to continue straight on after higher education.

Has there been a particular “aha” moment for you while working on campus sustainability issues?

Yoni: The first workshop that CoFED ever ran was at the California Student Sustainability Summit (organized by California Student Sustainability Coalition) where we had about 20 students from across the state and we all shared how we’d like to bring sustainability to our campuses. We shared our visions for a community space and food business, plotted out some steps and did skits to share back.
To wrap-up, everyone did a one-word check-out, “How do you feel?”
Ryan, the quiet student from Cal Poly in the corner said “inspiregized!”
Most of youth today wants to create a just and sustainable economy - we need the vision, we need the tools, and we need the support network.
We still use that word to describe our trainings (thanks, Ryan)!

What is your advice for students who are trying to get more involved in the campus sustainable food movement?

Danny: Be curious, and always open your perspective to what others tell you. Also, be realistic and be specific. Many projects start hot, but most burn out and disappear when they become mired in mud, that grueling phase one that students organizing at UCLA refer to as the “do-ocracy,” the lack of group direction and no coordination.

Yoni: Be respectful with administrators. Do not waste their time or their wisdom. Most will want to help you if you aren’t asking too much and present yourself as organized and thoughtful. Be bold. “No” doesn’t usually mean “no”, it means “maybe” - if you address all my concerns and hold me accountable.

Building on the Vision for STARS 2.0 that the STARS Steering Committee distributed last month, AASHE would now like to encourage those with ideas for improving STARS to send them to stars@aashe.org. Whether you would like to see a new credit in STARS or have suggestions for improving the existing ones, now is the time to share your ideas. Comments will be reviewed and considered by staff and Technical Advisors as we move through the technical development process towards the launch of STARS 2.0. We ask that you submit your comments by Friday, March 30th.

In addition, AASHE is soliciting feedback on some topics of particular interest to individuals who have a working knowledge of STARS. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey and let your voice be heard on issues like the Education & Research section of STARS and the 2005 baseline in the Operations section.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The article below was written by Julian Dautremont-Smith, STARS Steering Committee Chair. It describes the vision for STARS version 2.0 developed by the STARS Steering Committee.

With the recent approval of STARS v 1.2 (to be released on 2/8/12), the STARS Steering Committee has begun focusing more intently on the plans for STARS 2.0, which will be the first major update of STARS since the release of the original STARS 1.0 in 2010. To start the process, and provide transparency about this important step in the evolution of STARS, the Steering Committee has prepared a draft vision for STARS 2.0, included below.

The vision is intended to respond to the many comments and suggestions that staff and Committee members have heard from the campus sustainability community. We are hopeful that STARS 2.0 will significantly improve upon the foundation provided by STARS 1.0. To ensure that we are responding appropriately to the community's suggestions and are headed in the right direction, we are inviting comments on this draft vision. Please tell us what you think by adding a comment below. While public comments are encouraged in the interest of transparency and to facilitate dialog among interested parties, we also welcome comments at stars@aashe.org.

Please note that there will also be several opportunities to make suggestions on specific changes to individual credits later in the process. At this time, we are most interested in comments on the overall vision and goals. We look forward to your suggestions!

Draft Vision for STARS 2.0

This document outlines the STARS Steering Committee's vision and goals for the development of STARS 2.0. The purpose of this document is to provide STARS Technical Advisors with overall guidance about the kind of changes the Steering Committee is seeking in STARS 2.0 and to provide transparency to STARS Participants and the campus sustainability community as a whole regarding the program's direction. Under the STARS Governance Structure, the Technical Advisors work with staff to draft proposed changes to the STARS credits and the Steering Committee is responsible for approving all new versions of STARS.

Overall Vision

Responding to feedback from the campus sustainability community, STARS 2.0 will facilitate more meaningful assessments of campus sustainability performance while remaining accessible and relevant to the diversity of higher education institutions.

Goals

1. Create opportunities for stakeholders to participate – To ensure that STARS continues to serve the needs of the campus sustainability community, we want to use the development of STARS 2.0 as an opportunity to engage stakeholders and give them a voice in the process. Vehicles for participation will include public comment periods and conference calls (organized like virtual Town Hall meetings).

2. Improve comparability of STARS data – We intend for STARS 2.0 to reduce ambiguity, with a focus on clearly defining terms that have been interpreted inconsistently in existing submissions.

3. Where possible, move away from "all or nothing" credits and towards credits based on a spectrum of performance – Credits that are binary in nature often don't capture more nuanced differences between the effectiveness of different programs. To the extent possible, we would like to modify binary credits to recognize multiple levels of achievement.

4. Evaluate all credits, adding credits addressing sustainability issues currently not covered in STARS and deleting credits when appropriate – STARS aims to be a comprehensive campus sustainability evaluation. To maintain comprehensiveness, we welcome new credits that capture aspects of campus sustainability that are not currently covered by STARS. This may include credits related to: biodiversity; health, safety, and wellbeing; and social justice.

5. Improve applicability of STARS to higher education institutions located outside of the US and Canada – STARS was originally designed with the United States and Canada in mind. Now that institutions from other countries have been invited to participate in STARS, we see a need to revise some of the credits to make them applicable to these institutions.

6. Adjust weighting of STARS credits and overall balance of the STARS point system –Using a consistently applied methodology, we aim to improve scoring and the balance of points across credits so that point weighting reflects as closely as possible the relative impacts of the actions required to achieve each credit, as determined by the best available science.

7. Increase technical rigor of STARS –To ensure that STARS continues to motivate institutions to strive for continuous improvement, toward full sustainability, we seek to incorporate more rigorous and challenging criteria, and in particular, to address the following priorities identified by our community for each category:

   • ER – Address the definition of sustainability, the identification of sustainability courses and research, improved direct measurements of learning, and the overall rigor of the category.

   • OP – Address the 2005 baseline such that both early and more recent adopters of sustainable practices are rewarded equitably for their efforts and achievements.

   • PAE –Build more rigor and scaling into these credits, with particular attention given to those that have proven to be the least challenging.

8. Balance the need for comprehensiveness and technical rigor with the need to ensure that STARS is accessible – As we design credits that enable meaningful comparisons, we also want to ensure that STARS can be understood and used by non-technical audiences. We also aim to reduce, or at least not substantially increase, the time required to complete a STARS Report and to streamline the credit requirements wherever possible.

9. Maintain overall continuity – We strive to ensure that STARS 2.0 is not so different from previous versions that participants feel they have to start from scratch when preparing their submission.

10. Enhance existing mechanisms for ensuring that submissions are accurate - Options under consideration include voluntary or required review of submissions by: AASHE staff, peers, trained students, community organizations, and/or independent consultants.

Possible 2.0 changes

In accordance with the STARS Technical Development Policy, the following changes are allowed in the move to STARS 2.0:

• Adding, deleting, or modifying individual data fields
• Adding, deleting, or modifying credits
• Changing the number of points credits are worth
• Adding incentives or requirements related to verification
• Changing how scores are calculated, rating levels, etc.
• Changing the organization of credits
• Creating new types of credits

Estimated Timeline (Subject to Change)

January - March 2012

• Welcome feedback on STARS 2.0 vision
• Host comment calls on particular categories or credits
• Technical Advisor discussions

April - June 2012

• Staff and Technical Advisors draft credit revisions
• Steering Committee approves draft of STARS 2.0

July - September 2012

• 60-90 day public comment period on draft

October 2012 - February 2013

• Consolidate feedback from public comment period
• Revise credits

March - June 2013

• Steering Committee approves STARS 2.0
• Prepare Technical Manual and Reporting Tool
• Launch STARS 2.0

Transitioning from STARS 1.x to 2.0

STARS Participants that already have data in the Reporting Tool when STARS 2.0 is released will have the option to migrate their data to the new version of STARS. However, with the likelihood of new and revised credits in STARS 2.0, this means there will be blank fields that need to be completed in addition to updating the content of the credits that have stayed the same. The STARS staff and Steering Committee aims to make the transition to STARS 2.0 as seamless as possible for institutions. This includes providing guidance about participation and reminders when a STARS rating is getting close to expiring (after 3 years).

The 2011 AASHE Conference Moves Toward One Bag with the Help of the Glad Products Company:

In October, the 2011 AASHE Conference wrapped a successful four days of sessions and meetings on how to achieve sustainability in higher education, while also achieving a sustainability success of its own. With the support of its official waste diversion sponsor The Glad Products Company, they met a 97.63% percent diversion rate, meaning less than 3% of the total conference’s accumulated waste was sent to the landfill!

The conference was one of the first events to participate in Glad’s new One Bag campaign. The effort encourages and facilitates events, venues and consumers to host One Bag events, where only one bag of waste is sent to landfill, with the remainder being diverted to compost and recycling.

So what did this take? Not only did it require recycling and composting waste diversion capabilities at the venue, but the AASHE and Glad teams worked with the event planners to ensure they were wasting less at every step along the way. This included removing “waste drivers” from the event’s menu (nixing wrapped candy and chips from lunch boxes), using compostable or reusable silverware, donating leftover boxed lunches to a local non-profit and displaying informational signage by waste receptacles.

The GLAD® “One Bag" grant program will award up to 10 - $3,500 grants to colleges that are active members of AASHE looking to further their waste reduction efforts. The Glad to Waste Less campaign and “One Bag” grant program is intended help move more football programs towards less waste, supporting AASHE's campus sustainability goals. For Official Rules and complete details, visit http://clorox.promo.eprize.com/gladonebagcollegegrant/public/fulfillment/rules.pdf.

To learn how you can host a One Bag event at www.GladtoWasteLess.com

Thanks to Alexa Bakker for transcribing this session! Join the AASHE 2011 Transcription Project and help spread the great ideas presented at the conference!

Presenters:
Peggy F. Barlett, Emory University
Anna Prizzia, University of Florida

(Peggy)
Research over past 3-4 years on 30 campuses of varying sizes. Direct marketing (farmers markets, CSA's). Education.

Research comes from academic debates.

Need intent and capacity. First step is rhetoric. What is your rhetoric?

What is your intent?
-Pesticide use, water pollution, etc.
-Social issues: local farm purchase, fair wages and labor, etc.
-Health Issues: Diet, antibiotic resistance, nutrition

1. Food Service Goals
   -Sustainability-related criteria vary
   -Farming practices, what is local

Campuses make claims but don't back up with proof. Need accountability and transparency

Tweak menu, make seasonal, healthier meal choices, meatless reduce costs

Kitchen Practices
-In-house preparation
-Food preservation
-Certifications of green practices
-Green foodservice alliance certifications
-Attention to composting and use of waste (i.e. biodiesel)

1. Academic Programs
   -Undergraduate Concentrations
   -Graduate
   -Courses

Co-curriculum

1. Direct Marketing
   -Farmers markets and CSA's
   -Shift awareness of consumer and producer

2. Experiential Learning
   -Mental worker as opposed to physical worker
   -Campus farms

(Anna)

We know this is a global issue. Over a quarter of land use is in agriculture, over a billion starving, etc.

At University of Florida (UF)…
-Over 4,000 customers served daily in two dining halls alone
-Over 40 location with 1,000+ employees (600+ students)

Contacts are Key
-Get sustainability goals put into contact
-Figure out how to incorporate language into the ITN/Bid Process
-Be a part of the negotiation committee if possible
-Don't forget the "outliers" - vending, beverages, concessions

At UF local sourcing was stressed in campuses partially because it was measurable

Where is UF Now?
-Vegan stations for every meal in Dining Hall
-Meatless Monday (though not completely meat-free) was student-initiated
-Locally-sourced milk
-25-30% of food budget goes to local sources
-Monterey Bay Seafood Watch
-Natural Selections Catering Menu

Telling the story
-Highlight farmers and miles to your cup on posters in dining hall
-Externally it has gone well, but internally less so

Not Just Food Sourcing
-Wages, Energy/carbon, tray less/reusable to-go, composting(new)/recycling, no styrofoam or bags (soon)
-Just because it's not easy, doesn't mean it's impossible!

Other Opportunities
-Vending - nutrition labeling, energy, waste, sustainable foods, local purchasing
-Concessions - waste, catering, bulk condiments, on-demand straws and paper straws

Reaching Beyond the Dining Hall
-CSA drop-off point with local farmers

Being a Land Grant
-Curriculum - teaching garden, plant sciences major, food systems class
-Campus gardens
-Research - community food systems, climate change, water
-Service, Outreach, & Extension - PREC, Sustainable Floridians, County Offices

Beyond the Campus
-Florida Food Summit - safe place for balanced communication, relationship building, another summit soon
-Farm to Restaurant - support through sponsorship and attend every year
-Community Forum - How do we talk about the fact that no one wants to go into farming anymore? How do we inspire farming? How do we talk about a recent incidence of slavery on a farm?
-Institutional Advancement

Moving Beyond Low Hanging Fruit (literally)
-Triple Bottom Line Thinking
-Building Awareness - student, staff, and faculty and the community at large; developing the right messages, reaching diverse audiences
-Increasing Academic Involvement - growing support
-Long-range planning

Q: How do you get contacted workers to care about sustainability
A: We hired a sustainability person. Also, I pay attention… I bought a meal plan and eat in the dining halls. I don't use the language in the contract, I just let them know that sustainability is important and that's not going away

Q: Does UF or Emory have a biodiesel program?
A: Yes, at Emory we used cooking oil to make all of our shuttles use a portion of biodiesel. 20% biodiesel buses at UF.

Q: How do you work around liability and mandate challenges?
A: UF has a million dollar liability policy which sounds big but really isn't. Had presentation on what food safety requirements mean so that producers and farmers wouldn't be so scared. Also, they talked to people in the state about cooperatives to work around funding problems. Pilot programs to fix "broken" models.

Q: Open partnership and contract is important so that you can grow the program. Have a university person representing the program and evolving the partnership. Don't let institutions hid behind contracts and make excuses. Form partnerships with people in the community who act as distributers/middlemen in getting food from small, local sources.
A: Yes, willingness of directors is important.

Q: Dining director was concerned about price of oil and ability to purchase foods. Engaged students in calculations. Who is doing long-range calculations and research on this topic?
A: Don't have an answer. We've done back-of-the envelope calculations as well.

Q: They first tell us it's impossible, but then when we push we find it really is possible even with national brands (styrofoam). National brands have to procure 20% sustainable food by 2020. Would like to hear more stories about success against road blocks in a central location.
A: Airmark highlights best practices at AASHE.

Comment: At Michigan State they are approaching 50% local/regional sources. Now have recycling plant. Has hired a company to look at best practices. Submitted top 100 food sources so it can be calculated.

Q: With the franchises, what challenges and successes have you had?
A: No success stories at Emory except for fair trade coffee at bagel company, but inconsistent. Only coffee composting and waste conversation at UF. Will probably take national conversation for change. Business services offices manage vendor/franchise relationships so get them on your side.

Q: Any examples of state system initiating negotiation and alliances.
A: Less of fresh product and more of napkins, etc. Extending contract opportunities to franchises.

Q: Did you have an issue licensing USDA certification and regulations if you used food from campus farms at dining.
A: At University of Illinois they've come close to selling produce to Whole Foods but were told that it was only ok as long as sold within campus boundaries.

Q: How to monitor student input?
A: Get students to fill out the survey. Need broad spectrum. Student advisory committee.

Q: Recently had a discussion future of the farm and relationship to local mental hospital. Bringing recently incarcerated people to the farm. Has there been any work like this at Emory or UF?
A: At Emory just starting academic connections to farming as well as nursing partnership. Starting to see a food systems network beginning to rise.

Q: Partnerships with student farms and cafes?
A: Partnership at Michigan State with student organic farm, getting composting, etc. UF doesn't have a student cafe on campus.

Q: To-go or buffet style dining?
A: UF has both.

Q: Have you done any work on reducing or eliminating the purchasing and selling of bottled water on campus?
A: Not much.

Emory spent a whole year compiling information sheets in a booklet entitled Eating Sustainably. Available for free use on website.

Similar to the highlights of campus sustainability case studies that have been profiled (here and here) we also hope to highlight the excellent student research on campus sustainability that AASHE has available in our resource center. AASHE's student research database (main interface accessible to AASHE members-only) includes papers from undergraduate and graduate students on a wide variety of topics related to campus sustainability. Many of the papers were submitted for our annual student research on campus sustainability award. Although we can only recognize a few papers as "official winners" for that program, there are many exemplary research papers in the database worthy of recognition and wide dissemination.

The issue of reducing bottled water consumption has been gaining traction with many campuses experimenting with restricted sales or with campaigns to reduce bottle water use on campus. Max Liboiron, an undergraduate at New York University wrote and submitted an excellent research paper in 2010 entitled, "H204U: The Culture of Water Consumption at New York University". Included below is the abstract. The full paper may be accessed here.

Abstract:
While an abundance of information about the negative environmental impacts of bottled water exists, there are few, if any, bottom-up studies of why and how people choose and understand the water they drink, be it bottled, tap or filtered water. H204U is an interdisciplinary qualitative study funded by New York University's Sustainability Task Force to investigate the culture— the meanings, metaphors, influences, rhetoric and practices— of bottled and tap water consumption so environmental initiatives can effectively target certain populations and behavioural thresholds.

The findings show that there is a gap between popular discourses about bottled water, dominated by environmentalism, marketing, and water quality, and the reasons people choose one type of water over another. Thus, its findings challenge popular assumptions about bottled water consumption, including: availability is more influential than convenience for bottled water drinkers; while a mistrust of public municipal water sources is popular in discourse, water quality is rarely a threshold attribute; environmental values and the consumption of bottled water are not mutually exclusive; and bottled water marketing has a influential, though indirect, effect on how bottled and tap water is experienced.

Finally, the project finds that there are two types of initiatives that can impact bottled water consumption: initiatives that change behaviour and can be quantified, and those that attempt to change the terms of the overall discourse of water consumption, perhaps legitimizing common practices but also potentially shifting or expanding the spectrum of how water is understood. The paper ends with concrete operational and communicative recommendations modeled for New York University, where approximately a million bottled waters are consumed every month.

Similar to the highlights of campus sustainability case studies that have been profiled (here and here) we also hope to highlight the excellent student research on campus sustainability that AASHE has available in our resource center. AASHE's student research database (main interface accessible to AASHE members-only) includes papers from undergraduate and graduate students on a wide variety of topics related to campus sustainability. Many of the papers were submitted for our annual student research on campus sustainability award. Although we can only recognize a few papers as "official winners" for that program, there are many exemplary research papers in the database worthy of recognition and wide dissemination.

The issue of reducing bottled water consumption has been gaining traction with many campuses experimenting with restricted sales or with campaigns to reduce bottle water use on campus. Max Liboiron, an undergraduate at New York University wrote and submitted an excellent research paper in 2010 entitled, "H204U: The Culture of Water Consumption at New York University". Included below is the abstract. The full paper may be accessed here.

Abstract:
While an abundance of information about the negative environmental impacts of bottled water exists, there are few, if any, bottom-up studies of why and how people choose and understand the water they drink, be it bottled, tap or filtered water. H204U is an interdisciplinary qualitative study funded by New York University's Sustainability Task Force to investigate the culture— the meanings, metaphors, influences, rhetoric and practices— of bottled and tap water consumption so environmental initiatives can effectively target certain populations and behavioural thresholds.

The findings show that there is a gap between popular discourses about bottled water, dominated by environmentalism, marketing, and water quality, and the reasons people choose one type of water over another. Thus, its findings challenge popular assumptions about bottled water consumption, including: availability is more influential than convenience for bottled water drinkers; while a mistrust of public municipal water sources is popular in discourse, water quality is rarely a threshold attribute; environmental values and the consumption of bottled water are not mutually exclusive; and bottled water marketing has a influential, though indirect, effect on how bottled and tap water is experienced.

Finally, the project finds that there are two types of initiatives that can impact bottled water consumption: initiatives that change behaviour and can be quantified, and those that attempt to change the terms of the overall discourse of water consumption, perhaps legitimizing common practices but also potentially shifting or expanding the spectrum of how water is understood. The paper ends with concrete operational and communicative recommendations modeled for New York University, where approximately a million bottled waters are consumed every month.

Food is a basic necessity of life and so it should come as no surprise that a large number of colleges and universities across North America have begun to recognize food as an important component in campus sustainability as well. More than 100 higher education institutions have established community gardens on campus. With names ranging from SLUG (Student Led Unity Garden at The University of Portland) and VEGI (Vanderbilt Educational Garden Initiative, Vanderbilt University) to "The Burning Kumquat" at the Washington University in St. Louis and "The Forge Garden" at Santa Clara University, these gardens invite many and varied participants, and develop communities that cultivate knowledge of place, along with numerous bushels of tomatoes, snap peas, corn, beets, carrots and other delectable veggies.

Students at the University of New Hampshire harvest fresh salad greens at the UNH Organic Garden.

Often run by active student organizations like the UNH Organic Garden Club, community gardens oftentimes incorporate blogs and social networking systems into their operation, and sometimes hire qualified individuals to lead the initiatives. This ‘growing’ trend may help to lay the groundwork for a future where a network of farmers’ markets, food co-operatives, CSA (community supported agriculture) farms and community gardens will greatly reduce average food miles, and help us transition to a more sustainable food system.

Recognizing the connections between gardening and sustainability, AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) includes a “tier two” credit for campuses that have an on-campus garden in the co-curricular education section of the rating system.

To see a list of campuses with community gardens please visit this new (AASHE members-only) resource: Campus Community Gardens.

I had the honor to serve as a judge once again in this year’s Best Practice Awards for the 2010 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference organized by the sustainability office in the University of California's Office of the President. With deadlines approaching for AASHE’s own awards program I neglected to help publicize the California winners, who are all deserving of recognition.

These best practices awards are intended to highlight the achievements that the California State University, University of California, and California Community College campuses have made through innovative and effective energy efficiency projects and sustainable operations. It is the goal that these projects will serve as showcases to other campuses and will assist campus staff with resources and ideas that they may be able transfer to their own campus.

The 2010 Best Practice Award Winners included many different categories. I have include the winners along with links to brief descriptions of their projects. More information is available on the Best Practice Awards website.

Overall Sustainable Design

• DeAnza College; Mediated Learning Center
• CSU Sacramento; American River Courtyard
• UC Irvine; Medical Education Building

HVAC Design/Retrofit

• Los Angeles Pierce College; Near Net-Zero Maintenance and Operations Complex
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Student Recreation Expansion and Remodel
• UC Irvine; Exhaust Stack Discharge Velocity Reduction

 Lighting Design/Retrofit

• Copper Mountain College; Energy Savings Project
• San Jose State University; King Library Lighting Retrofit
• UC San Diego; Sustainability Resource Center

Monitoring-Based Commissioning

• UC Berkeley; Le Conte Hall
  Additional award winner to be determined

Student Energy Efficiency

• West LA Community College; Green Campus Program
• Cal Poly Pomona; Green Campus Program
• UC Santa Cruz; Green Campus Program

Student Sustainability Program

• Santa Rosa Junior College; Students for Sustainable Communities
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Green Campus Program
• UC Santa Barbara; (PACES)

Water Efficiency & Site Water Quality

• San Diego Community College District; Standardization of Calsense Irrigation Control System
• CSU Northridge; Weather Based Irrigation Control System & Waterless Urinal Replacement
• UC San Diego; Clean Water Utility Initiative
• UC Santa Barbara; San Clemente Ecological Restoration & Storm water Management Project

Innovative Waste Reduction

• UC San Diego; Toby's Spot Re-Use Program

Sustainable Foods Service

• Humboldt State University; Dining Services
• UC Santa Barbara; Residential Dining Sustainability Plan

2010 Honorable Mentions:
Overall Sustainable Design

• West LA Community College; Athletics & Allied Health Complex
• CSU San Bernardino; College of Education
• UC San Diego; Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility 2

Lighting Design/Retrofit

• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Student Recreation Expansion and Remodel

In the quest to achieve sustainability it is often the most easily-quantifiable of the three pillars of sustainability, those of economic vitality and environmental health and protection, which are invested in on campuses. And initiatives like campus solar installations, fleet changes, and LEED certified buildings are certainly critical components of a sustainable campus. But what about the third pillar, that of social justice? While many of the energy efficiencies and upgrades undoubtedly produce social benefits, they tend to be fortunate side effects rather than the initial goals. Fair trade purchasing, on the other hand, clearly addresses the social justice pillar by ensuring that farmers and craftspeople receive a fair price for their goods.

The Fair Trade Practices & Policies resource will be useful for campuses looking to realize social sustainability goals. There is much to be learned from the large variety in the venues campuses have chosen for promoting and selling fair trade products and in the kinds of goods that can be certified fair trade. Though coffee is by far the most common “fairly-traded” product, some campuses have expanded their offerings to include fair trade tea, bananas, sugar, chocolate, crafts, and even ice cream. Additionally, fairly traded products are often produced with environmental sustainability in mind – many fair trade coffee brands, for example, offer organic and shade grown varieties, thereby reducing dangerous chemical use and deforestation threats –and are economically sustainable for the famers and craftspeople, ensuring a fair selling price, and for the end users, by ensuring an ongoing source for those products.

Fair trade offerings should be a widely-available staple on college and university campuses looking to achieve sustainability and do their part for social justice, and we hope this resource will help you achieve that goal.