UC Davis is currently a Fair Trade University and has been since February 2020.
ASUCD encouraged the UC Davis to finalize the process of becoming a fair trade school through the Senate Resolution #7, which was voted on unanimously on January 19, 2020. The resolution supports the incorporation and promotion of usage of fair-trade products in the dining services of the campus. It also shows support to giving farmers and works proper working conditions. Along with UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis has come close to achieve fair trade status. Members of the ASUCD have stated that while fair trade products are more expensive than mainstream items, it is important to educate the importance of the price range of these fair trade products. To read more about UC Davis becoming a Fair Trade University, feel free to go to the link under the logo.
According to the current ASUCD President, Kyle Krueger, CoHo is one of the biggest supporters of the Fair Trade Campaign at UC Davis. The coffee house contains a variety of fair trade products such as coffees, teas, and chocolates. If interested in learning more about specific items or the procurement practices you can contact the food service director who oversees operations at the ASUCD Coffee House, Darin Schluep. You can also use the contact us webpage for CoHo that is added on the button to the left.
UC Davis is a part of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, otherwise known as STARS. In this report CoHo data reported complied with STARS standards meaning that CoHo uses products that are sustainable or ethically produced. CoHo also made up of over 400 college students, which plays a key role in educating students about the importance of purchasing fair trade and ethically made products. To read more about the sustainability at UC Davis and the STARS report you can do so here .
In February 2020, UC Davis took its final steps in become a Fair-Trade school. While there has been an increase of fair trade products implemented in UC Davis outlets there are few options for fair trade certified or ethically made chocolate at these stores. In order to understand more about this situation we contacted the general manager of retail- markets Mitch Hayter. Mr. Hayter explained that while UC Davis is Fair Trade Certified, stores can between 20-40 fair trade items. He also explains that the reason why there is limited amount of trade fair products is because mainstream items are more affordable for students who are on a budget.
UC Davis has an active Fair Trade Campaign that provide information on the following topics:
The Campaign progress which shows ways in which Fair Trade has been incorporated at UC Davis
Images of participants of the campaign
Fair Trade Products in different stores and places at UC Davis as well as what specific products such as coffee, tea, and chocolate
The Senate Resolution #7 document, downloadable.
Who members of the campaign are, where to follow the campaign, and options to be informed
Link to the campaign is here
The director of dining services at UC Davis, Kraig R Brady, claims that the culinary team tries to use Fair-Trade certified chocolate whenever possible. The UC Davis Dining Services usually source their fair trade chocolate through UNFI or United Natural Foods Inc. and/or Tony's Fine Foods. The chocolate that the UC Davis Dining Services purchase is fair trade certified. In order to ensure that the chocolate purchased is ethically sourced, the Dining Services reviews that the label has its proper attributes and asks for the manufactures to provide a 3rd part inspection an certification.
In 2020, the UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services had a goal to obtain 20% of sustainable food products and in order to do so Student Housing and Dining Services supports growers and producers who practice sustainable agricultural methods. There are a variety of third-party certifiers that UC Davis heavily relies on to guarantee sustainable agricultural practices. In the Dining Commons menus there are icons that highlight sustainable foods. To learn about these icons and the certifiers click here .
According to the University of California Annual Report on Sustainable Practices , UC Davis was able to reach its goal for sustainable residential and retail food service spent. UC Davis reported its percent of food spent from sustainable products to be 45%, which doubled their goal. The breakdown of how this percentage came to be can be seen on the report among the residential and retail services.
The report contains graphs and data, which can be accessed through the report link, about the sustainable food purchases throughout years at Davis until the 2015-2016 school year.
There are breakdowns of the percentages of purchases of sustainable food purchasing in the 2015-2016 school year.
It dives into different parts of food labeling such as healthy food labeling and SPE certified meals and it contains the varies ways in which UC Davis is sustainable and what the campus does to maintain its sustainability.
Students are encouraged to read the report and compare the differences from that school year to recent years with their own experiences.