CDT Fall 2022 - 29

demographics of vendors with which our department
engages (i.e., woman-owned businesses, small
businesses, Michigan-based, etc.). We strive to use
our purchasing power to support disadvantaged
businesses, in order to address social equity issues,
and prefer to choose local Michigan-based
businesses, to help tackle waste reduction and
reduce our carbon footprint.
Through new research, we found that while our
program spends 88 percent of our total purchases
with Michigan-based companies, less than two
percent of our spend is from minority owned
businesses. This striking information pushes us to
be more thoughtful when we bid for a vendor or
supplier and urges us to ask questions specific to our
desire to increase our minority owned partnerships.
Because we now have a better understanding of how
we engage intentional procurement, it's clear we have
areas to improve, like purchasing more from minorityowned
or woman-owned businesses.
Once areas for improvement were identified,
we spent a great deal of time modifying
existing contract language for vendors and
suppliers. We looked at the NACUFS guide and
other institutions for examples of sustainable
contract language. However, we advise you to
keep in mind that others may have different
priorities, demands, and demographics than
your university. After we revised our contract
language, we passed it to graduate students
who reviewed and cross-referenced with
industry standards.
Now, once contracts are reviewed, our
dining procurement team can implement the
language into the request for information
(RFI) and request for proposal (RFP) process,
formally setting sustainability expectations
for our vendors. We believe if universities and
institutions across the country implemented
CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF THE NACUFS COLLEGIATE FOODSERvICE SUSTAINABILITY GUIDE | CAMPUS DINING TODAY
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CDT Fall 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CDT Fall 2022