OUSA will put a formal request for all campus food outlets to use free-range products, such as eggs, chicken, and pork, after 62% of voters called for the association to adopt a policy opposing factory farming.
A University of Otago spokeswoman said the university had no formal position on the exclusive use of free-range products at campus outlets, but staff were "investigating their options".
"Key considerations will be product availability, cost and whether customers would be prepared to pay an increased price for these products."
OUSA returning officer Imogen Roth released the referendum results yesterday evening, which show 2606 students voted on the free-range motion - the highest number of votes cast across the nine referendum subjects.
About 22% of voters (573) voted against free-range only products, with 14% (364) choosing to abstain.
OUSA spokesman Alasdair Johnston said the association had no say on what retailers sold at campus food outlets such as the Union Cafe food court.
About 76% of student voters also called for OUSA to actively campaign against any changes by the Government which reduce access to interest-free student loans - the most popular motion of the referendum.
More than 200 votes have been cast in the OUSA presidential by-election, which finishes today at 4pm.
OUSA's online poll was affected by an IT outage yesterday, which caused its computer system to crash for about three hours, before it was fixed by noon, Mr Johnston said.
