Food
Green purchasing guidance for food, including eggs, meat, poultry, produce, proteins, seafood, vegetables, fresh dairy (including milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, buttermilk), bulk foods (including frozen, chilled, canned, refrigerated, dry goods), and fresh bakery items.
Required specifications
The following have been identified as green specifications relevant to the good/services as minimum mandatory requirements. These would not be part of a scored exhibit. If you are using the Washington state procurement manual templates, the following should be inserted in the relevant document that describes the product or performance requirements.
- Food service providers must follow current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Preferred specifications
The following have been identified as green specifications relevant to the goods/services as preferred specifications to be scored. These would be part of your evaluation. If you are using the Washington state procurement manual templates, the following should be inserted in the relevant document that is used for evaluation.
- USDA Organic
- Certified Humane
- Fair Trade (various certifiers)
- Food Alliance
- Salmon Safe
- Sustainable Seafood
- B Corp
- NSF Sustainability Certification
- Other certifications approved by the state
- Reduce packaging
- Deliver products in reusable packaging or recyclable corrugated cardboard packaging with at least 25% post-consumer recycled content
- Meet U.S. EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for applicable packaging
- For more information, see Healthcare Without Harm's Healthy Food in Health Care
Consideration for purchasers
- DES-090-09: Purchases of Washington Grown Food and RCW 39.26.090(9)(a-b)
- State agencies should require food service providers to include a “Plan for acquiring Washington Grown Food” offer non-cost points to food vendors and service providers that can provide the most food products that are Washington Grown. RCW 70A.350: the Pollution Prevention for Healthy People and Puget Sound Act directs Ecology to cyclically identify priority chemicals, priority products and then implement restrictions or reporting through rulemaking or take no action. At this point in time, bisphenols in the linings of food and beverage cans have been identified as a priority chemical-product combination but regulations have not been finalized.
- All state-owned or operated food service operations must offer vegetarian entrees, which generate fewer GHG emissions during production than meat and other non-vegetarian entrees. State agencies should offer non-cost points to food service providers that propose implementing climate-friendly food service strategies such as “Meatless Mondays” and food waste reduction initiatives. State agencies should look for opportunities to include vegetarian proteins on their food commodity contracts. For more information on climate-friendly food, see The Meat of the Matter: A Municipal Guide to Climate-Friendly Food Purchasing.
Laws, rules, and executive orders
These laws, rules, and executive orders must be included in the contract language: