In May 2021, the University of Michigan announced a commitment to carbon neutrality. Part of this commitment includes shifting our focus to the carbon footprint associated with university purchases. By comparison, U-M’s current sustainable food goal focuses on local food.

A Carbon Neutrality Food Work Group has convened to develop a road map for U-M’s approach to sustainable food purchases. This road map will help inform our future food goal, implementation strategies, and tracking methods.

In the meantime, we will discontinue our current time-intensive tracking process to dedicate more time and resources to establish new target(s) and accounting methodologies that better align with U-M’s carbon neutrality commitment, our peers, and with the AASHE STARS focus on plant-based food.

Although annual metrics will not be added to this goal for the next couple of years, U-M’s commitment to purchasing sustainable and local food remains strong. All of the efforts and systems in place to attain the current goal will continue for the foreseeable future.

September 24, 2021