Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.91
Liaison Susan Powers
Submission Date April 10, 2024

STARS v2.2

Clarkson University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Susan Powers
Director of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment
ISE
"---" 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 university promotes a CSA option from a local farm for staff and students who live in apartments and also serves as a pickup location for CSA boxes for both students and community members in the Potsdam area.

http://birdsfootfarm.weebly.com/

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:
Some produce is purchased through Daniel Martin's of Martin Farms. This is a small, local farm that provides fresh produce to the local area of Potsdam. Martin's Farmstand acts as a small foodhub to get produce from a dozen or more other local farms to market.

https://martinsfarmstand.locallygrown.net/

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:
Sodexo started incorporating Meatless Mondays at one of the locations on campus, BBQ Nation at Cheel. There are plans to expand this into other dining locations on campus.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqBCJvjOXNP/?img_index=1

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:
RoBro Dining Hall offers vegan/vegetarian stations as one of their many different stations for all three meals a day. The Student Center Servery and the Cheel Campus Commons (our two other main dining locations) also provide vegan options.

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:
Dining halls and other food locations contain signage on the issue of food waste. There is also signage in both the Servery and Robro Dining Hall that educates students on what can and cannot be put in the compost collections bins in these dining areas

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwh_Q6-ts19/?img_index=2

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:
We use LeanPath to track and decrease food cost (a monitoring system for pre-consumer food waste). All pre-consumer food waste from our Cheel dining hall is sent to the campus anaerobic digester.

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:
We don't have any trays 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:
The dining services donate food to a local nonprofit called Helping Hands for their community kitchen and they donate non perishable food to the food pantry on campus when they receive too much stock.

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:
Pre-consumer food waste as well as overproduction from various dining facilities on campus (Servery, Robro Dining Hall, Cheel) is taken to our on-site anaerobic digester on campus. Post consumer food waste is taken to a local farm for composting.

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:
Food waste is collected and sent to the anaerobic digester on campus for energy production purposes and research.

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 (plate waste from students) is collected at two of the dining halls, Servery and Ross Brooks Dining Hall, and sent to a local composting facility. Post-consumer food waste from apartments is also collected by students and placed in toters that are picked up by the same composting facility as well.

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:
Utensils and plates and cups are provided in the Ross-Brooks dining hall and washed on site after use.

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:
Sodexo purchases compostable togo containers when the supply is available that can be composted through our composting program

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:
The Starbucks dining location offers incentives to bring your own reusable mug. This incentive may either be an immediate discount or a ticket to enter a coffee raffle. This was done in partnership with the Sustainability Club on campus as well as the ISE

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
The executive chef works with Garden Club on campus to use local produce produced in the on campus garden and greenhouse in catering meals.

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:
Data from FY22 to FY23

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.