April 2018

As UC Berkeley provides refreshments for hundreds of meeting and events weekly, catering plays a significant role in the UC Berkeley food procurement landscape. Our campus has an opportunity to provide “sustainable and just” catering by working with vendors who meet a matrix of values. The Berkeley Food Institute has put together the following guidelines based on the combined values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Environmental Sustainability; Food Recovery; Health and Nutrition; and Labor.

The guidelines linked below are designed to assist departments in working with vendors to provide sustainable and just food. We acknowledge that these guidelines are a high ceiling, and that food service is very challenging business with a low margin of profit. We also recognize that campus departments are often working with a small budget for catering. Thankfully, our local catering community has an abundance of catering businesses who share these values, and many offer affordable options.