09/17/2021
Can university food procurement contribute to social and environmental justice? This new Highwire article looks at the relationship between universities, consumer food certifications, and environmental justice:
“University food procurement is a massive enterprise with a large societal impact. It has been suggested that this purchasing power be wielded for good: sustainability is a frequently cited aim for alimentary purchasing; social and environmental justice, while still relevant, are less commonly considered in this context. Social justice aims to eliminate inequities between discrete demographics. Environmental justice (EJ) falls under the wider umbrella of social justice: EJ is the notion that specific ecological burdens of society (like pollution and presence of hazardous pesticides) should be shared equitably across communities. Social and environmental justice are the cousins of sustainability; all three are a prerequisite to ethical spending. Both forms of justice can be difficult to quantify, making it difficult for institutions to gauge just spending habits. Some consumer certifications are touted as informative tools for doing so. We examine four major certifications: two which focus on sustainability, USDA Organic, and the Non-GMO Project, and two which focus on EJ, Fair Trade USA and the Rainforest Alliance. This article reveals potential blind spots in the certification process that should be considered as administrators attempt to improve social and environmental justice at the farm level. We conclude with advice for ethical university food purchasing.”
Written by Shashank Anand, Hezekiah Grayer II, Anna Jacobson, and Harrison Watson Sustainability is the notion that we should consume with caution, as the Earth is a delicately balanced ecosystem w…
