Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	66.69
Liaison	Laurie Husted
Submission Date	June 8, 2020

STARS v2.2

Bard College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	1.80 / 2.00	Brittany Florio Food Program Supervisor Office of Sustainability

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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?:

Yes

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:

The Bard College Farm provides organic produce to the Bard College campus, growing more than 30 crops and including beekeeping and (through the 2019 season) operated the largest cranberry bog in the Hudson Valley. The farm is worked by students and has expanded into a larger sustainable food initiative at the college. Bard students and staff operate a weekly farm stand at the heart of campus throughout the growing season. It is a popular attraction for students, families, community members, staff, and faculty to get a wide variety of ultra-local, seasonal produce grown with care.

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?:

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?:

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:

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

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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:

Meatless Mondays / Beefless Mondays.
Daily Plant-Forward menu options.
Focus on sustainably-sourced seafood.
Rooted program featuring vegan main course options.
Harvest of the Month.
Climate Action Plan outlines meat reduction plan.

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:

Bard College offers vegan dining options in all dining halls. We serve full vegetarian and vegan options at every meal. For example, Vegan Thai curry with tofu, eggplants and red bell peppers and Swiss Chard and Garbanzo Stew. Bard College is committed to a plant-forward menu to reduce carbon emissions and educate consumers about the impact of our diets.

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:

Bard EATS signage notifies customers of their food choices through clear signage which identifies ingredients, nutrition information, allergens, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, and locally sourced products.

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:

Our food service provider, Chartwells, uses TrimTrax to accomplish this goal.

Through our annual participation in Recyclemania, we track post consumer food waste daily for an eight week period.

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:

Chartwells is trayfree and uses reduced diameter plates. They highlight their use of local foods to encourage people to value them, not scrap them.

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:

Leftover food from the main dining facility, Kline Commons, is picked up Monday through Friday by Bard staff and faculty so it can be donated to Darmstadt Homeless Shelter located in Kingston, New York. In addition we do a promotion that is focused on waste reduction which is measured. Any waste reduction is rewarded by making food donations to local food shelters and charities. This program is called project clean plate. In addition, each spring, our staff participates in the Eat Right Live Right Challenge which promotes healthy eating and exercise. For 8 weeks collective weight loss and activity hours are monitored. For each pound lost a donation of $5 in food is made and $3 for each activity hour logged. Last year, this equated to over $1000 in food donations to local food pantries. We also donate leftover food from the all-you-can-eat dining facility 5 days per week to Caring Hands Soup Kitchen.

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:

We have in the past converted cooking oil to biodiesel through a student initiative (Bard Biodiesel), we are open to returning to that program.

Composting

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:

Yes

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:

Chartwells employees collect food production scraps (pre consumption), weigh them with a TrimTax program, and place them in wheeled toters. A Bard College Buildings & Grounds employee takes the containers from the eating facilities, to the compost pile which is located and maintained right on campus. Once the food scraps have turned into a perfect compost, it is brought to the Bard College Farm and used an a natural fertilizer for crops, creating a closed loop, sustainable system.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:

Yes

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:

Students empty food scraps into a designated container at the dish return areas. Chartwells employees wheel the food scraps to the loading dock. A Building and Grounds employee picks up the contents of the containers from the eating facilities at Kline and brings them to the compost pile at the Recycle Yard. There is a residence hall collection program created and maintained by the BardE3 students opt in to compost collection and collection is individualized and personalized to the needs of the residence halls. BardE3s collect scraps and bring them to distributed compost bins located around near the residence halls.

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:

Kline Dining Commons prioritizes offering reusable plates, cups, and silver ware. The dish washing staff follow strict health and safety guidelines to ensure all reusable ware is cleaned and sanitized properly. For students who want to take food to-go we have a "green container" system which will be elaborated on in the next question.

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:

We have a reusable service ware program using "green containers." All first year students receive a free green container in their welcome to campus sustainability kit. Students can use their green containers to take food to-go at any dining facility on campus, reducing our need for plastic-ware or paper-ware. Additionally, students may choose to use re-usable utensil sets offered during first year orientation and during annual events such as Recyclemania.

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:

In existence at Down the Road Cafe and Manor Cafe: Buy 9 beverages with reusable mug get the 10th beverage free.

At Kline Dining Commons: Bring your green container on specific days and get a piece of candy.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:

Mobile Teaching Kitchen focused on seasonality and cultural diversity (see below for full description)
Choose Your Own Menu program featuring student input and fighting against menu fatigue.
Urban Cultivator allows students to grow healthy and organic microgreens inside the campus center for use at Down the Road Cafe

Teaching Kitchen designs cooking events that celebrate culture, community, and, of course, food. Events are held all around Bard’s campus, from Kline to Montgomery Place to Gilson Place, and are open to both students and the general public. The program organizes in-dorm cooking classes, enables borrowing of cooking equipment, and bring in chefs and food lovers from outside of Bard to share lessons about how sustainability, social justice, and science (among other topics) relate to food.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:

http://www.bard.edu/bardeats/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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