Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.49
Liaison Ryan Todd
Submission Date March 1, 2021

STARS v2.2

California State University, Sacramento
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.80 / 2.00
"---" 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:
Sac State hosts regular community supported agriculture programs on campus in partnership with Associated Students (ASI) that replicates a standard farmers market framework allowing disadvantaged students regular access to fresh produce.

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:
The Grumpy Mule, an on-campus coffee shop, sells coffee that is Fair Trade certified and Rainforest Alliance certified.

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 services supports SMEs by purchasing food and beverages from local small and medium sized enterprises.

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
4

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:
The Dining Commons has a dedicated station that offers vegetarian/vegan options daily. Additionally, other stations in the Dining Commons offer a variety of vegetarian/vegan 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?:
No

A brief description of the vegan dining program:
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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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
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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:
The CSU participates in diverting commercial and post-consumer food waste from landfills and incinerators through its Organic Recycling program. It also is mandated to report annually the amount of food waste generated and types of programming focused on minimizing the amount of organic waste generated on site to the CalRecycle State Agency Reporting Center (SARC), per AB 1826 Solid Waste: Organic Recycling.

For AB 1826 Bill Text and more information, please visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB1826&search_keywords

The California State University Sustainability Policy states under Part H. Sustainable Food Service: “All campus food service organizations should track their sustainable food purchases. Such tracking and reporting will be grounded in the Real Food Challenge guidelines, or equivalent, with consideration to campus requested improvements. Campuses shall strive to increase their sustainable food purchases to 20 percent of total food budget by 2020.

Campuses and food service organizations shall collaborate to provide information and/or training on sustainable food service operations to staff and patrons.”

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:
At the Dining Commons, in an effort to reduce the amount of food students serve themselves, tray-less dining has been implemented.

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:
Dining services has partnered with the campus to provide “Epicure Extras”, an on-campus app. The app sends push notifications to students who when leftover food from a catering event is available for up to 30 minutes after the conclusion of the event. Dining services also donates leftover items or items close to expiration to the campus food pantry.

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 collected in bins by a local rendering company and is processed off-site to create biodiesel.

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:
Pre-consumer food waste is collected from campus eateries and the University's Children's Center to be composted at the university BAC yard (bioconversion and agricultural collective).

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:
Post-consumer food waste was sorted by bins and signage in eateries and transferred by waste hauler to such facilities as local farms.

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:
Dining services has reusable dishware and cutlery for students in the Dining Commons (DC). Additionally, some retail locations on campus serve food in reusable baskets in place of paper/plastic bags.

Students that live on-campus are given a reusable to-go container for food, a reusable cup, and a reusable bag to carry everything in.

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:
The Dining Commons offers reusable “to-go” containers for food taken outside of the location.

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:
Coffee shops on campus offer a $0.25 discount for any student, faculty, or staff who uses a reusable mug.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
The University tracking and reporting is grounded in the Real Food Challenge guidelines, or equivalent. The Campus strives to increase its sustainable food purchases to 20 percent of total food budget by 2020. Campuses and food service organizations collaborate to provide information and/or training on sustainable food service operations to staff and patrons.

For more information, please visit: https://calstate.policystat.com/policy/6987526/latest/

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