| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.20 |
| Liaison | Susan Kidd |
| Submission Date | June 21, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Agnes Scott College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.63 / 2.00 |
Elizabeth
Rowe Sustainability Fellow Center for Sustainability |
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, and/or urban agriculture project, or support such a program in the local community?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
In 2018, Agnes Scott partnered with the Common Market Georgia to establish a Farm Share for the college community. The Common Market is a nonprofit regional food distributor with a mission to connect community with good food from sustainable family farmers. Farm shares are delivered to campus bi-monthly, and are available to both employees and students. The Office of Human Resources also offers cost subsidies to employees and the option for payroll deduction.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a vegan dining program that makes diverse, complete-protein vegan options available to every member of the campus community at every meal?:
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
At every meal, there are complete-protein vegan options at a designated cooking station, and these are also included in the general buffet line and salad bar.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events:
The Agnes Scott Dining Services provides Meatless Mondays every week during Monday’s dinner.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a sustainability-themed food outlet on-site, either independently or in partnership with a contractor or retailer?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labeling and signage in dining halls?:
A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
In March 2018, 50 students completed the college’s Team Global Challenge course, which required teams of students to tackle the issue of food waste at an adjacent middle school. During this challenge, Agnes Scott Dining Services worked with the teams to provide insights into maintaining a sustainable food system for the college and how this could be replicated for their project.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have other sustainability-related initiatives (e.g. health and wellness initiatives, making culturally diverse options available)?:
A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
In partnership with our employee wellness program, Balance, Agnes Scott Dining Services has begun to improve signage on the health impacts for every food item served. Dining Services also ensures a diverse array of cultural dishes are available, and works with religious student organizations to ensure the culinary traditions of religious holidays are observed in the dining hall.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor participate in a competition or commitment program and/or use a food waste prevention system to track and improve its food management practices?:
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Dining Services utilizes the software, LeanPath, to ensure they are tracking and preventing food waste.
Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented trayless dining (in which trays are removed from or not available in dining halls) and/or modified menus/portions to reduce post-consumer food waste?:
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
In 2008, we implemented trayless dining, and have significantly reduced our water consumption and food waste.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
A brief description of the food donation program:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses (e.g. converting cooking oil to fuel, on-site anaerobic digestion)?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
All food residuals and cooking oil (including from the grease trap) are removed from the dining hall by our compost hauler, Southern Green Industries, and taken to their facility. There, all solids are removed for and sent to be processed for compost, all water is treated and sent for further water treatment, and all oils are converted into biofuel.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Agnes Scott Dining Services participates in a pre-consumer food waste composting program. The dining hall staff sorts scraps, food residue, peeling, etc. into bins and our compost hauler collects the food waste three times a week.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Agnes Scott College has a post-consumer food waste composting program in Evans Hall, its main dining facility. Guests put their dishes, residual food, napkins, etc. on the dish return and the dining hall staff sorts it into the appropriate bins.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Agnes Scott Dining Services has committed to utilizing reusable water for all "dine in" meals, and has established a threshold for using reusable ware for catered events.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor provide reusable and/or third party certified compostable containers and service ware for “to-go” meals (in conjunction with an on-site composting program)?:
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
Agnes Scott Dining Services offers reusable to-go containers at an initial cost of $3 per container. A guest purchases a container, uses it, brings back the dirty one, and receives a clean one in exchange.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Agnes Scott Dining Services offers a $0.50 discount when guests use reusable mugs at either our cafe.
Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented other materials management initiatives to minimize waste not covered above (e.g. working with vendors and other entities to reduce waste from food packaging)?:
A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.