Diversity Food Services: Leading the Way on Socially and Environmentally responsible Campus Dining in Canada
University of Winnipeg
Project Overview
The University of Winnipeg Campus Sustainability Office would like to nominate Diversity Food Services for an AASHE Campus Sustainability Achievement Award.
Diversity Food Services is a joint venture of the University of Winnipeg's Community Renewal Corporation (UWCRC) & SEED (Supporting Employment & Economic Development) Winnipeg to deliver excellent food services to the University of Winnipeg while providing meaningful employment and ownership opportunities for the community. Our specific community objective is to create meaningful job opportunities in the food industry for traditionally marginalized communities. Diversity's mission is to provide food services that demonstrate the desire to meet the goals of sustainability at the University within a work environment that reflects a high level of training for the diverse group of employees. We believe that together we can both enhance the quality of food services and develop competencies in all our employees.
The University of Winnipeg's Community Renewal Corporation's (UWCRC) mandate is to work towards developing a sustainable University community that is attractive to the faculty, staff, students, and the greater community. With the acceptance of the food services responsibilities, the UWCRC is committed to planning services that embrace the University's Campus Development Plan by actively developing partnerships with community, private and public sector organizations.
SEED Winnipeg is a non-profit agency whose mandate it is to combat poverty and assist in the renewal of primarily inner-city communities by providing capacity building services that assist low-income individuals, groups, organizations and economically distressed neighbourhoods improve their social and economic vitality. SEED helps individuals and groups start small business and save money for future goals. By offering business management training, individual consulting and asset building programs, SEED has been instrumental in changing the course of many lives in the inner-city.
Diversity is a social enterprise that strives to achieve the maximum positive social and environmental impact through all its business choices. Diversity aims to provide excellent food services to the students and staff of the University of Winnipeg and the surrounding community by establishing a successful, dynamic social enterprise.
Its core objectives are:
Offering wholesome, fairly priced, ethnically diverse food options
Creating an attractive and diverse menu
Providing excellent customer services that enhances the rapport with students through responsiveness to needs and requests
Establishing high quality jobs for target food service employees, including good wages and benefits, career advancement opportunities, access to training and capacity building, participation in decision-making and opportunities for ownership
Developing a catering service that supports skill development of the catering staff and meets the needs of the University community
Background
Diversity Food Services (hereafter Diversity) is a joint venture of the University of Winnipeg's Community Renewal Corporation(UWCRC) and Supporting Employment and Economic Development (SEED) Winnipeg to deliver excellent food services to the University of Winnipeg, as well as Fort Whyte and the Player’s Golf Course, while providing meaningful employment and ownership opportunities for the community. Diversity is a social enterprise designed around four pillars of sustainability: cultural vitality, economic health, environmental responsibility, and social equity, as called for in the first principle of Manitoba’s Principles and Guidelines for Sustainable Development (hereafter MB PGSD), Integration of Environmental and Economic Decisions. Their vision statement follows:
“Our Vision is to produce quality, nutritious, and flavourful food in an environment that champions all who contribute their energy and skill - from the farmer, to the chef, to the service staff. Our service is distinguished by our passion for food and our abiding commitment to sustainable environmental practices. Whenever possible, we choose to use food that has been sourced in a socially responsible manner which includes reducing transportation costs, supporting fair-trade practices, and decreasing the dependency on food grown with herbicides. Our commitment includes providing food services in a caring work environment that offers meaningful employment opportunities to all employees. Integral to our Vision is creating a positive and caring atmosphere for all who eat, work, and serve.”
On sustainability: Diversity Food Services is a recognized leader in sustainable institutional food services. Diversity's on-campus efforts to advance the University of Winnipeg's commitment to sustainable environmental practices have been recognized since 2015 as the most sustainable post-secondary campus food service in Canada. Whenever possible Diversity makes procurement decisions that are environmentally, socially, culturally, and economically sustainable. This means that most of the food served is obtained from small independent farmers and businesses located around Winnipeg. Diversity hopes to support the broader University goals of developing healthy communities.
All of the Diversity campus locations LEAF II certified (Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Food service).
Diversity uses compostable/biodegradable products that are formatted specifically to align with the requirements of the campus composting program.
Goals
Diversity is a social enterprise that strives to achieve maximum positive social and environmental impact through all its business choices. Diversity aims to provide excellent food services to the students and staff of the University of Winnipeg and the surrounding community by establishing a successful, dynamic social enterprise.
It’s core objectives are:
Offering wholesome, affordable, ethnically diverse food choices reflecting environmentally sustainable practices.
Creating an attractive and diverse menu, including a catering service to meet UWinnipeg needs, and generate revenues from the external campus community
Providing excellent customer services that enhances the rapport with students through responsiveness to needs and requests
Establishing high quality jobs for target food service employees, including good wages and benefits, career advancement opportunities, access to training and capacity building, participation in decision-making and opportunities for ownership
Implementation
In 2009 Diversity opened with 25 employees and generated about $500,000 of revenue. The following year the campus residence opened with 176 dorm-style rooms and students who required mealplans were added to the business mix. Over the next 4 years Diversity would consistently operate with heavy financial losses as it tried to find a sustainable business strategy. In 2013 it was obvious that to make Diversity financially viable, the company would need to invest in a growth strategy.
By 2014 Diversity Catering reached the milestone of having completed 10,000 orders, and the total number of employees had grown to 70 and included a chief operating officer. Diversity continued to focus on local economic development, sustainable procurement, and improved jobs for employees, as it took on new opportunities including introducing urban honeybees to campus, growing their own herbs, and helping local food banks. By the end of fiscal 2018 Diversity had successfully changed it’s business model enough that while continuing to buy goods from small local companies, and reginal farmers, and paying staff living wages, they had successfully paid off all debts, make market value rent payments to the
Timeline
2008 – Feasibility study, and partnership negotiations.
2009 – Launches 3 locations on campus at UWinnipeg (Pangea’s Kitchen, the Malecon, Café Bodhi).
2011 – Expands to the new Richarson College building on campus and opens Elements
2013 – Expands to include a line of sustainable products available in Winnipeg grocery stores ‘Diversity to-Go'
2015 – Expands to take over food service contract at FortWhyte Alive
2017 – Opens additional outlets on Campus at the University of Winnipeg (Tony’s restaurant, Duckworth Canteen)
2018 – With more than 100 employees, Diversity pays off all debts
2019 – Expands to open Dash coffee shop on campus
Financing
Each of the owner partners made and initial investment loan into Diversity propionate to their share of ownership totaling $48,000. The United Way and Employment Manitoba granted Diversity a further $83,000 in employment supports. The Jubilee Fund and Assiniboine Credit Union loaned Diversity a further $110,000 to get the Social Enterprise off the ground. Since 2010 Diversity has been self-financing from operations, and has paid back all loans.
Results
Purchasing
Diversity’s sustainable purchasing sets them apart from other university food service providers across North America. In 2017, Diversity’s purchasing practices at the UW included:
67% of purchases were “sustainably” sourced, that is, purchased under one or more recognized food and beverage sustainability standards or purchased from local suppliers.
60% of purchases come from within 100 kilometers of the campus, and include over 70 local producers.
Only 6.7% of meat purchases were “conventional” products.
Diversity holds a Marine Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification. All seafood purchased is either locally harvested or third-party verified.
Diversity is the first campus food service in Canada to purchase only antibiotic free chicken.
Despite being located on a busy downtown campus, Diversity sources some products on-site: 1) honey from roof top bee hives, and 2)herbs, micro greens and vegetables from a student led, on-campus gardening initiative
All coffee and tea purchases were third-party certified as organic and/or fair trade.
See Food inventory in supporting documentation for full details on Diversity’s sustainable purchasing. By supporting local producers, Diversity has provided a stabilizing income to many farms that has allowed them to expand operations, strengthening Manitoba’s food system and making locally-produced foods more accessible for others in the process. This support for local, organic, and sustainable agriculture serves several of the principles from MB’s PGSD, including Stewardship, Conservation and Enhancement, and Global Responsibility.
Hiring Practices
Diversity’s specific community objectives include job opportunities in the food industry for new Canadians, Aboriginal people, community residents and university students. Between 60 and 65% of its roughly 100 employees face recognized barriers to employment, and Diversity is proud to offer all employees a living wage (at least $14.54/hr), access to a benefits package, and extensive on-the-job training. For instance, while Manitoba law requires only 1 in 20 employees at a workplace to hold a Food Safe Handling certification, Diversity provides this training to all employees. Operations at Fort Whyte Alive and Players Golf Course ensure that Diversity staff have full time jobs despite seasonal effects of the campus calendar. Diversity works to embrace their diverse workforce; for instance, employees have the opportunity to cook authentic international cuisine from their countries of origin. As a result of Diversity’s employment practices, the company continues to experience a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of about 1:1.68, meaning that for every dollar Diversity spends on employment, the local community experiences a social benefit of $1.68. This focus on social sustainability is vital to Diversity’s business model and serves the second principle of MB’s PGSD, which states that Manitobans are caretakers of the economy, the environment, human health and social well-being for the benefit of present and future generations.
Operations
Diversity’s operations are also geared towards sustainability performance. Food preparation is on-site as much as possible to reduce packaging and waste, a rarity for college food service provider. For instance, Diversity does the majority of its own butchery, ordering in whole animals from local producers depending on seasonality. This practice is both cost effective and ensures all parts of the animal can be used. Other waste reduction accomplishments include:
Tray-less cafeterias, to reduce water consumption
All kitchen cooking oils are collected and converted to bio-fuel
All food waste from Diversity’s university kitchens and cafeterias is sent to The Forks for composting
70% of meals served at UW are on re-usable dishware, and all take-out packaging, including straws and coffee cups, and lids, is compostable. Customers save 55 cents to get a beverage in a re-usable mug
Farmers are provided with re-usable tubs to deliver products
Food that would otherwise be wasted is donated to local food banks, including the UW campus food bank, Agape Table, Siloam Mission, and the New Immigrant Centre
All coffee is shipped in compostable 30 kg bags
All cleaning products used by Diversity are third-party certified as non-toxic and environmentally friendly, and they have made efforts to reduce their energy consumption where possible (the University owns the majority of their appliances). For instance, they have recently installed kitchen hood sensors that only turn on when heat is detected from the ovens, and also installed occupancy sensors on lights in bathrooms, offices, and kitchens. The menu always provides at least 20% vegan dining options, and there is always a vegan soup option and a discount on meat-free options at the stir-fry station. These operational practices meet many of the guidelines outlined in MB’s PGSD, including Efficient Use of Resources and Waste Minimization and Substitution.
Communicating Sustainability
To further mobilize the knowledge they’ve gained as a front runner in sustainable food services, Diversity works to educate both the University and food industry about their sustainability efforts and achievements. On campus, Diversity has created a large map of the province in the main cafeteria that identifies local producers. At every point of sale, instead of running advertisements, the register displays messages about Diversity’s sustainability efforts. The executive management team also gives presentations at conferences and in classrooms about sustainable procurement in food services and social enterprise development within institutional settings. They also speak frequently at trade shows about sustainable procurement in the hospitality industry.
In 2019, Diversity Food Services received the Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Award from the provincial government: https://news-centre.uwinnipeg.ca/
Because of Diversity, UWinnipeg earned the top ranking among 336 post-secondary schools in North America in 2019 for sustainable food and dining, as determined by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). UWinnipeg scored 89% on the sustainable campus dining index. https://news-centre.uwinnipeg.ca/all-posts/uwinnipeg-is-home-to-the-most-sustainable-campus-meals-in-north-america/
Other awards they have received include:
2013 Golden Carrot award in Business – Executive Chef Ben Kramer
2013 DEAM Manitoba Champion of Diversity award
2014 Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Winnipeg Award winner for the Social enterprise Category
2017 Top Score in Sierra Club Magazine's Cool Schools food category ranking of North American Colleges and Universities (tied with Vermont's Sterling College)
2017 Highest scoring Canadian campus (3rd overall) dining facility of Universities and Colleges in North America listed on the international AASHE-STARS sustainability campus index
2018 LEAF - Greenest Restaurant over 10,000 square feet
Lessons Learned
You need counter-seasonal employment for staff reliant on your university dining service jobs so they can stay employed. This is an essential part of improving social sustainability outcomes
You need an anchor partner, like a UW that is committed to sustainability, to stick with you during the startup period. We can’t pay rent; you need to believe in us; meal plan finances the whole operation
Other institutions are not ready to take on the risk and don’t care about sustainability enough
By guaranteeing demand for sustainable local food, our institution can help support and expand local suppliers, helping the whole sustainable food market
It can be done. Food services that buys locally, uses compostable packaging, with no corporate branding, and students will buy in
Giving all staff living wages and benefits, and exposing them to sustainable food decision-making, the employees then go on to expand our positive ecological impact through their purchases,
Don’t do it because some rating body is going to give you points and designations. Do it because it’s the right thing. Sometimes rating systems don’t recognize what is actually more sustainable practice given specific local context.