Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.58
Liaison Margaret Lo
Submission Date July 14, 2022

STARS v2.2

Ball State University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.68 / 2.00 Karen Adkins
Senior Director of Auxiliary Services for University Dining, Catering, and Events
Business and Auxiliary Services
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Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives

Local community engagement

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or urban agriculture project, or support such a program in the local community?:
No

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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Sustainability-themed outlet

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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
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Inclusive and local sourcing

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor support disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its food and beverage purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Disadvantaged businesses (MWBE): John Tom BBQ Sauce, Warrior Mix, El Popocatepetl Tortillas, Sea Salt & Cinnamon, Stanz Foodservice Inc, Local SMEs: Hubbard and Craven’s, Vigilant Eats, Wick’s Pies, F.M. McConnell & Sons, Cibus Fresh, Dugdale Foods, Fry Tech Edible Oils, Muncee Meats

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
51.06

Low-impact dining

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
Yes, Ball State University Dining works in partnership with Student Government Association (SGA) to host an annual sustainability event called "Dinner in the Dark", focusing on both energy conservation and healthy sustainable food options.

Vegan dining program 

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Ball State University dining has vegetarian and vegan options available in eleven dining locations, within those locations we have vegan/vegetarian grab & go selections plus several of our dining locations feature custom stations with vegan/vegetarian options.
North Dining has an Allergen station free of the top 8 allergens.

Labelling and signage 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labelling and signage in dining halls?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Ball State Dining promotes reusable drink containers and reusable bags. The promotion of reusable bags has decreased single use plastic bags.
We also encourage our customers to partner with us in the reduction of single use straws and other disposable take-out containers.

Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery

Food recovery program

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Ball State Dining uses a menu management system that closely tracks inventory, food production, and food purchases. This helps prevent unused inventory and food waste.

Trayless dining and portion modifications 

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
All of the eleven dining operations at Ball State are currently trayless.

Food donation 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
Yes

A brief description of the food donation program:
Yes, in 2020-2021 Ball State Dining donated 20,000 pounds of wholesome leftovers to the local community.

Food materials diversion 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
100% of waste oil is used to make biodiesel and animal feed. We also collect and compost 100% of our coffee grounds.

Composting 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
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Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
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Dine-in service ware 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Yes, we use china instead of disposables at select dining and catering locations.

Take-away materials 

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)?:
Yes

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
Yes, we use compostable containers as a to-go option, but we do not have an on-site composting program. We purchased 31,512 pounds of compostable disposable food containers from 7/1/20-6/30/21

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Upon return to our dining locations with a Dining reusable container the refill price is $.80 vs the full price of $1.65 to $1.85

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
We do not participate in a prime vendor program, this allows us to evaluate all of our vendors/products with Behavioral Economics in mind. (Behavioral Economics includes Sustainability, Health and Wellness, and Animal Welfare.)

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
http://www.bsu.edu/campuslife/dining/about-us

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.