Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.89
Liaison Tom Twist
Submission Date Nov. 8, 2023

STARS v2.2

Bates College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Tom Twist
Sustainability Manager
Facilities
"---" 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:
Dining services works with a nonprofit called Lots to Gardens, which uses vacant lots - some of which are owned by Bates, to create gardens in conjunction with our local and growing immigrant community. We collaborate with this wonderful group quite often.

Dining services also partners with Wolf Pine Farm, to supply a local CSA option to the Bates Community at a discounted price.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
Dining services hosts a permanent area in Dining called the VEgan Bar, where about one quarter of our Dining Commons is allocated to local, sustainable, and vegan food, which is prepared fresh on site as the food is consumed (to reduce waste and help freshness). During the growing season, the vegan bar is also the recipient of veggies from our Bates Garden.

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:
Dining service sources from a number of SMEs through our food purchasing by contracting with local, family-run farms, like Ricker Orchards, to supply Dining with seasonal and local produce.

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:
We host acclaimed chefs to come in and demonstrate meatless cooking techniques. We also just completed a month of protein awareness, focusing on getting enough protein, particularly if you are a vegetarian. We also now host events which are entirely free of disposable dishware. Dining, in conjunction with a student group known as CHEWS, puts on an event like this every month.

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:
Bates Dining has allocated about a quarter of its space to create a vegan bar, which serves wonderful, fresh and local food. This is offered every day, at every meal, all year round.

http://www.bates.edu/food/foods-importance/food-in-good-company/vegan-station-draws-carnivores/

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:
The Dining Commons has a prominently displayed map of Maine, where each of our local producers is labeled geographically. Also, during the harvest season, there are signs letting the students know which dishes were prepared with produce from the Bates garden.

Also, we have recently phased out disposable cups, and have distributed signs about waste around the dining hall. This was a Dining/student initiative, and is currently keeping 750,000 disposable cups out of the landfill every year.

https://www.bates.edu/news/2017/03/30/paper-coffee-cups-soon-to-be-an-un-commons-sight/

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:
Dining is committed to keep its waste diversion rate above 80%. This last fiscal year, it diverted 83% of its waste to composting, pig farmers, and recycling. It is leading the college in its waste management systems. We have reduced this waste further by eliminating 750,000 paper cups from the waste stream by switching to reusable drinking containers. We also now compost all napkins in Commons.

http://www.bates.edu/dining/who-we-are/

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:
Though we do have trays available for certain special cases, dining's education and cultural shifts in the student body have made the trays entirely unused, save for visitors. We have accomplished this via a cultural shift and outreach campaign.

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:
Our dining Commons donates previously served food to St. Mary's Food bank, in Lewiston.

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:
Dining is seeing a diversion rate of 83% of its waste stream. This is accomplished by - having food waste and paper napkins go to our local composter, food waste to pig farmers, used fryer oil to a biodiesel processing plant, and our brown grease to a methane digester.

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:
Yes, we partner with a composter and pig farmer for our food waste.

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:
We use Agricycle Energy for a large-scale compost pickup.

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:
All our service ware is now reusable:

https://www.bates.edu/news/2017/03/30/paper-coffee-cups-soon-to-be-an-un-commons-sight/

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:
Students can request to go lunches, which are packaged in recycleable or compostable containers.

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:
See Mug Club -

https://www.bates.edu/sustainability/culture/

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
https://www.bates.edu/b-well/

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://www.bates.edu/news/2013/07/31/green-restaurant-association-three-star-sustainable-dining/

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