It is well established that current conventional food production practices contribute significantly to environmental degradation and climate change, compromise the well-being of workers and animals involved, and produce foods of poor nutritional quality. While Pomona College has established goals for sustainability and for student well-being and considers itself a leader in both areas, this study determines that these commitments are not reflected in the College’s food purchases.

Using the Real Food Calculator – a metric designed to evaluate food purchasing at academic institutions – this study tracks and analyzes all food purchased by one of the College’s dining halls over the course of one month. Each food item was assessed based on the potential health concerns of its ingredients and whether the item was produced locally, with ecologically sound techniques and/or with humane conditions for animals to determine whether it should be considered “Real.” In order to be Real, a food item must meet standards in one of these three categories. The assessment metric also lists ingredients with potential health concerns (including trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, and MSG), which disqualify a food item from being Real. The necessary information was gathered for each of the over 500 food items tracked during the one-month study period through label analysis and extensive research regarding the companies producing the items.

Of the over $150,000 worth of food purchases made during the study period, 8.9% qualified as Real (meaning it met the standards for at least one of the three attributes). A total of 2.1% of all food purchases qualified for two attributes. Of the foods assessed, over one third contained a disqualifying ingredient. Categorical spending was also analyzed, determining the extent to which dairy, meat, beverage, and other such categories included Real items. The study is limited by time period (only one month) and scope (only one of three dining facilities), but these results provide an indication of general food purchasing practices.

This study indicates a general disconnect between Pomona’s commitments to sustainability and student well-being and the College’s food purchasing habits. This study provides a series of recommendations to improve food purchasing, including writing specific standards into Pomona’s food service contract. Other strategies recommended include creating a position to coordinate sustainable food and nutrition initiatives, increasing from-scratch cooking (as opposed to processed and packaged items), improving labeling practices, improving vegan and vegetarian options, banning certain ingredients/additives, and redirecting savings from targeted areas of cost-cutting to increased purchases of local, organic, humane, and other sustainable food items.