Colorado College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Sustainable food options are a part of each cafe menu on campus.

https://coloradocollege.cafebonappetit.com/

Yes, we view our procurement spend as a vehicle for amplifying our core values of inclusion and equity, and pursue these goals through Locally Crafted, part of our Farm to Fork local purchasing program, and our Supplier Diversity program. Locally Crafted vendors must be two of the following criteria:

Locally Sourced: At least 50% of the product’s ingredients are from small, owner-operated farms within 150 miles of the Bon Appétit kitchen.

· Responsibly sourced: At least 50% of the product’s ingredients are responsibly sourced as verified by an approved third-party organization, such as Certified Organic or Fair Trade.

· Humanely sourced: The eggs, dairy, and protein in the product meet all Bon Appétit’s own sustainability standards.

· Traditional/artisan: The product is a staple of a specific cuisine, made in the traditional manner with a minimum of additives and preservatives, or in small batches by hand using traditional methods.

· Justice through ownership: The business is majority minority or woman-owned and -controlled.

· Justice through training: As a founding principle, the business seeks to provide job opportunities to a disadvantaged population.

Our Supplier Diversity program was inspired by best practices developed through Farm to Fork and Locally Crafted. Through this initiative, our regional network of Farm to Fork Foragers (the chefs and managers who are tasked with discovering and partnering with local farmers and food producers) now actively pursue the enrollment of small BIPOC-, women-, and LGBTQ+-owned businesses who meet Bon Appétit’s standards. We communicate this program via a Supplier Diversity COR icon that appears on menu items containing products from vendors enrolled in the program. Additional materials in our cafés and online help tell the stories of these products and vendors to guests.

Yes, we host a number of low-impact dining events, including an annual Eat Local Challenge, Through educational materials on each table, and in signage throughout the café, we share information about the benefits of prioritizing plant-based proteins for one’s health and the environment, and offer plant-forward meals multiple times per week in each café

Colorado College provides a vast vegan dining program that is accessible to all members of the campus community. Rastall Café includes a designated vegan station with diverse and complete-protein items and at least one vegan desert option at every meal. Vegan options are also included in the grab-and-go program, available at Colorado Coffee, the Preserve, and Local Goods.

We prioritize plant-based proteins in our cafés and a complete-protein vegan option is available to the campus communities at every meal served in our cafés. We communicate vegan options to our guests using the Vegan Circle of Responsibility icon on both online menus and menus in the café.

We inform guests about low-impact food choices and sustainability practices in many ways. On guest tables and in signs around the café, we share information about pressing sustainability issues and relevant policies, including antibiotics use on animal farms, animal welfare issues such as gestation crate use, sustainable seafood, and farmworkers’ rights. Using our Circle of Responsibility (COR) program, we communicate sustainability attributes of ingredients through our online and in-café menus. Menus are labeled with COR icons that denote the following (and more):

- if the dish includes local ingredients, and which farm they are from

- if the dish includes animal products from a farm with a third-party animal welfare certification

- if the dish includes seafood rated as Green or Yellow by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program

- if the dish is vegetarian and/or vegan

We participate in the following waste prevention systems:

At Colorado College, we employ Bon Appétit’s cloud-based Waste Not waste tracking system. Waste Not captures waste quantities, types, and destinations, which are entered in real time onto tablets by kitchen staff. The system is highly customizable and adaptable to any kitchen situation. Data captured is presented in an online dashboard in an informative way that helps our teams better contextualize and understand opportunities to prevent and reduce waste in their operations.

Trayless dining was implemented on the Colorado College campus in 2008 in an effort to reduce food waste. The school also reduced the size of plates at the dining hall to limit food waste.

We are trayless in our all-you-care-to-eat café on campus and train all servers in portion control to help minimize post-consumer food waste.

The Colorado Springs Food Rescue, a student and community run organization founded in 2013, uses bike trailers to transport perishable food being thrown away in the community, including the buffet leftovers from Rastall Dining Hall, to charities and non-profits that serve at-risk or hungry individuals.
Per recovery the school recovers around 70 pounds.
The locations that recieve food are:

Urban Peak Colorado Springs
423 E Cucharras St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Becky Saad - Shelter Supervisor - 719-630-3223 x 2829
Becky.Saad@urbanpeak.org

Marian House: Catholic Charities of Central Colorado
14 W. Bijou St
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Jim Benavidez - Director : 719-866-6551
info@ccharitiescc.org

The Crawford House - Colorado Veterans Resource Coalition
415 S Weber St
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Jerome Ford - (719) 477-1639

Yes, we divert food materials from the landfill in the following ways: Compost, recycle programs ran by Colorado College.
Oils from the kitchens on campus are used in on campus bio-diesel vehicles and an off site oil recycling company.

Colorado College contracts a local company, Bestway Disposal, to collect pre-consumer food waste from all dining services operations and bathroom waste bins.

Colorado College contracts a local company, Bestway Disposal, to collect post-consumer food waste from all dining services operations and bathroom waste bins.

Reusable service ware is available at Rastall Dining Hall and recyclable and compostable service ware are available at Benjis and the Preserve. Bon Appetit is working with the Sustainability office and student government to revitalize the discount program for reusable containers in the cafes.

Rastall Dining Hall offers a reusable to-go container that can be purchased with meal plan dollars.

Dining services offered a discount to customers who use a reusable mug or beverage container.

Bon Appetit hosts events such as Food For Your Well-Being, Eat Local Challenge, Farmworkers Awareness Week, Earth Day, Fair Trade & Seafood, African American History Month, Lunar New Year, Luau and others.

While Colorado College does not host a farmers market, community supported agriculture(CSA) or fishery program, and/or urban agriculture project, or support such a program in the local community, Bon Appetit purchases directly from local producers such as AVOG, Emerge, CornerPost Farm, Tap Roots Food Hub, etc,.