Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.05
Liaison Ellie Perry
Submission Date Feb. 15, 2023

STARS v2.2

California State University, Dominguez Hills
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Ellie Perry
Sustainability Manager
Facilities Services
"---" 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:
CSUDH works with Venaver Events to host a Certified Farmers Market on a weekly basis during the semester on-campus. The market is open to the public.

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:
EveryTable provides a brick and mortar location in the LSU food court. This business is well known for its sustainable foods and social justice mission.

https://www.everytable.com/mission/

Toro Fresh features a variety of seasonal menu options, including Vegan, Plant-Forward, and Cool Food Meals. Cool Food Meal recipes have been analyzed by the World Resource Institute (WRI) and were determined to be below a certain carbon footprint threshold. Customers can feel confident that choosing these options will have a lower impact on the climate. Toro Fresh also offers meals in reusable to-go containers for any customer who wishes to participate in the program. Used containers can be exchanged for a clean, sanitized container during their next transaction, or for a token that “holds” their place in the program until they are ready for their next to-go meal.

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:
Aramark has a dedicated Supplier Diversity Manager who works with the local team at CSUDH to identify Women and Minority owned businesses, along with disadvantaged businesses and social enterprises available in the region.

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:
As a result of previous food advisory forum feedback, Campus Dining currently offers vegan options at every meal in Campus Dining eateries. These options are promoted with special logos on eatery menus.

Additionally the Office of Sustainability promotes plant-forward options as part of its campus-wide Take Charge sustainability pledge and programming.

Cool Food Meals with a low carbon footprint are now available at Toro Fresh, along with Vegan, Vegetarian, and Plant-Forward options. Plant-Forward menu options may contain meat in small amounts, and feature vegetables and/or grains at the center of the plate. Aramark’s Regional Dietician also hosted events at CSUDH to promote these menu options and educate students on the health benefits of a plant-based diet.

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:
There has been a conscious effort to add vegan options at all Campus Dining eateries. These menu options are indicated with clear (V) labeling to indicate they are vegan.

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:
Toro Token signage is featured prominently at Toro Fresh to help reduce environmental impacts from single-use food containers.

“Cool Food Meals” and “Plant-Forward” icons can be found next to menu items at Toro Fresh to raise awareness of low impact food choices. These particular menus can also be viewed online:
https://csudh.campusdish.com/LocationsAndMenus/ToroFresh

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:
Campus Dining is a partner with CSUDH's Food Recovery Network chapter, and saves all excess food from back-end operations for weekly food recoveries. CSUDH IT has also developed a CSUDH Eats App with collaboration from Campus Dining to notify students directly when there is leftover food from campus catered events for pick-up.

https://news.csudh.edu/csudh-eats-iphone-app/

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 dining in the Food Court is trayless as there are no dining halls on campus.

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:
Campus Dining partners to donate food weekly on Mondays to the campus chapter of the Food Recovery Network.

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:
Used cooking oil is picked up by a vendor for recycling into bio-diesel. There is also a commercial food waste dumpster provided by the university for use by the campus as well as Dining operations specifically.

The commercial food waste dumpster provides source material for Republic Services' biogas facility where the material is turned into commercial compost as well as renewable biogas.

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:
Coffee grounds from dining services are picked-up directly for use by student assistants from the Faculty Development Center for gardening purposes.

There is also a commercial organics recycling dumpster that is shared by the campus and the Loker Student Union to accommodate pre-consumer scraps resulting from kitchen prep.

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:
The entire campus (including Loker Student Union/food court) has three-stream zero waste bins which feature compost, landfill, and recycling options for users.

Collected compost is put in hauler organics dumpsters and bins for processing at the biogas facility for the waste hauler (where it is turned into biogas and compost).

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:
The DH Sports Lounge uses reusable serviceware for its meals.

Toro Token reusable containers are also available at Toro Fresh and DH Sports Lounge for to-go orders.

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:
Compostable to-go containers are provided at Campus Dining eateries per CSU Single Use Plastics policy requirements.

Toro Token reusable containers are also available at Toro Fresh and DH Sports Lounge.

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:
There is a 10 cent cup discount for all coffee shops on campus to users who bring their own mugs.

Toro Token users also get a 10% discount on their meal for participating in the program as well as a 50% discount on their first time purchases.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
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Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://www.csudhfoundation.com/csudh-sustainability/

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.