Establish a system for tracking the cost of all foodstuffs purchased during the performance period, both compliant and noncompliant. (For examples, see the Documentation Toolkit.)

If your project team does not purchase food and beverage products through a vendor or third party, research sustainable alternatives to conventional products. Begin by looking into the products offered by current distributors.

Require suppliers to provide documentation demonstrating that the products comply. This can come in the form of a website that clearly identifies how individual products meet one or more of the sustainability criteria, or it may be product literature that manufacturers provide on their website.

Before doing hours of research to identify MRc5-compliant products, consult your vendors. Some will be able to offer guidance on which products are compliant. 

Unless your building has made significant efforts to purchase sustainable foodstuffs in the past, it is unlikely that current purchasing practices will comply with the credit criteria. 

Determine which, if any, sustainability criteria (one of the third party certifications and/or production within 100 miles of the project site) apply to each foodstuff currently purchased by contacting manufacturers or distributers, reviewing product literature, or searching databases of certified products.

Create an inventory of your building’s standard food and beverage purchases. If your project is a multi-tenant building and some of your tenants purchase their own food and beverage products for use in their space, you are permitted to exclude up to 10% of those spaces (based on floor area) in order to comply with the credit. This may be necessary if you have a tenant that is not willing to purchase food and beverages that comply with the credit criteria. 

Some offices may only purchase coffee and tea, and the occasional pizza or birthday cake. By making sure that 25% of these purchases (by cost) meet one or more of the sustainability criteria, buildings that purchase very little food can earn this point. 

For small buildings, coffee alone might qualify the building for this credit. 

Food purchases that fall under this credit may be made in a variety of settings and outlets within the project building. These might include: 

employee cafeterias;
tenant restaurants or retail food outlets; 
vending machines;
employee kitchen supplies; 
catering (owner or tenant) provided on-site;
or takeout food that may be provided at a meeting or other office function.