A coalition of farmers, fishers, students, and advocates rallied at the headquarters of food service provider Aramark on Monday to demand that the company source its food more ethically.
The Community Coalition for Real Meals demonstrated in front of Aramark’s Philadelphia headquarters on Monday and delivered a petition that the group says has been signed by over 100,000 people. The coalition’s goal is to reform the country’s institutional cafeterias and food system by demanding that food service companies improve their sourcing and labor practices. Members of the coalition, which launched last year, include the Domestic Fair Trade Association, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Real Food Challenge, Public Justice, and other organizations.
“Aramark’s business model of entering into exclusive contracts with huge corporate food manufacturers pushes farmers and fishers off the land and water, perpetuates racial injustice, and drives down wages, while driving up chronic disease and carbon emissions,” said Navina Khanna, director of the HEAL Food Alliance, in a press release.
The petition delivered to Aramark asks the company, along with its peers, Sodexo and Compass Group, to source 25 percent of its food served at college campuses locally and from humane and sustainable sources. It also asks the companies to decrease their carbon emissions and dependence on animal products sourced from large-scale farms, and to expand purchasing from disenfranchised producers.
“Until Aramark changes their ways, business as usual, for us, is not sustainable,” said Phillip Barker, a farmer and cofounder of Operation Spring Plant, at a press conference preceding the rally. “We’re calling on Aramark to meet with us, join in our demands, and also make sure that they’re willing to make the changes.”
Aramark did not respond to a request for comment.
Nearly half of North America’s institutional cafeterias — including universities, hospitals, and government offices — are contracted to the three largest food service providers, Aramark, Sodexo, and Compass Group. Commonly, cafeterias contracted to these food service providers are restricted in what types of food they can purchase and are encouraged to buy from the largest food companies. This model has been criticized by producers and food system advocates who say that it entrenches large food companies and makes it more difficult for small and independent growers to sell to local institutions.
In the university system, food service companies have in recent years offered millions of dollars in unrestricted funding as a bonus for signing onto their contracts. The Hattiesburg American reported this month that Aramark “paid [Mississippi State University] a $5 million bonus for signing a 10-year contract, and later doled out as much as $675,000 a year for unrestricted use.”
In return, schools promise to deliver food service companies a certain number of campus meal plans. If they fail to meet that number, the university must pay off the difference — and that cost is often passed on to students. Today, MSU students “pay twice what they did about a decade ago for food,” reports the Hattiesburg American.
Aramark has come under scrutiny in the past for serving spoiled and unhealthy food in prisons under unsanitary conditions and for paying its workers low salaries.