1. Office of Sustainability Green Office Certification Training Course 5: Food

2. Sustainable Food at UWM Food is an essential part of everyone’s lives, and how it is produced, processed, and shipped makes a large impact on the environment. For example, food production uses natural resources like water, and food distribution requires large amounts of fossil fuels which produce greenhouse gas emissions. UWM offers many types of sustainable food choices, including local, organic, vegetarian, and vegan. Other initiatives include campus gardens, a healthy food store, and participation in a local produce auction. Through UWM’s sustainable food actions pesticide use is reduced, natural resources are conserved, and the use of fossil fuels is lowered, leading to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a healthier Wisconsin.

3. Campus Gardens Campus gardens were once on site as victory gardens during World War I and II. Today they are part of an effort to reduce the "food mile" and share sustainability beyond the kilowatt hour. UWM has campus gardens located on the Physics South Lawn where students, faculty, and staff can rent out plots to grow food. Gardens near the Sandburg East tower are both utilized by the campus community and by Restaurant Operations to grow food for the Sandburg Café. The Sandburg Gardens recently added a hoop house as well for year round compost and produce production. The UWM Food & Garden Club helped create the campus gardens, and has been leading the planning and implementation of campus gardens since 2010. The UWM Food & Garden Club and campus gardens are important because they create a sense of campus community and offer students, faculty and staff the chance to directly contribute to sustainability at UWM. Physics South Lawn plots Sandburg Hoop House

4. Living Operating Consuming and Acquiring Locally (LOCAL) In an effort to become more sustainable, UWM Restaurant Operations has initiated the concept of Living Operating Consuming and Acquiring Locally. Our LOCAL concept will offer the students of UWM an opportunity to live and consume locally by participating in the food service programs and notice the steps taken by UWM to procure and promote local products and business. Our local brand will be marketed on the produce, prepared foods and equipment that fall under our LOCAL concept. Examples of Local Foods  Vern’s Cheese from Door County  Bunzel’s Meat Market  Kikkoman Pearl Soy Milk

5. Vegetarian, Organic, & Vegan Options View a detailed list of products at this link: http://www.aux.uwm.edu/dining/pages/vegetarian-information.php Restaurant Operations offers many vegetarian, organic, and vegan options throughout campus. You can find the products included in the pamphlet at the Restor, Flour Shop, Enderis Hall, Cunningham Hall, Union Station, The Sandburg Emporium, Riverview Convenience Store, Taco Bell, and Burger King. Also, local foods are incorporated into catering and many dishes served in the dorms. Raising animals for food requires large amounts of the earth’s resources such as land, energy, and water. Raising animals for food uses 30 percent of the Earth's land mass, and it takes more than 11 times more fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein as it does to make one calorie from plant protein! Furthermore, the water impact of raising animals is extensive: nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food, and it takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons. By incorporating vegetarian, organic, and vegan options into UWM’s food purchasing the large amounts of land, energy, and water used to raise meat can be reduced.

6. Dining Options Restor, a campus health food store located in the Northwest Quadrant, offers organic, natural and locally sourced foods. It sells only minimally processed or nonprocessed food and beverages. Fresh salads, sandwiches, organic and all-natural frozen entrees, and organic and fair-trade tea-based energy beverages are a few of the many options available at the store. Restor gives students, faculty and staff the option to purchase sustainable foods in one convenient location. Build-your-own granola bar Natural energy drinks and soft drinks

7. Produce Auction Starting in 2008, Restaurant Operations supplemented its produce purchase with fresh vegetables from Badgerland Produce Coop. Shrinking the average “food mile” from 1,500- 2,500 miles down to 178 miles not only reduces the amount of fossil fuels need to transport it, but it also helps the local economy. Approximately 14% of the food in Restaurant Operations is from local, fair- trade, or organic sources.