| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.39 |
| Liaison | Stephanie MacPhee |
| Submission Date | Feb. 5, 2025 |
Dalhousie University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Stephanie
MacPhee Executive Director Office of Sustainability |
Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives
Local community engagement
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Food Services has a partnership with The Station Food hub - a business that works closely with small local farmers to find outlets for foods that otherwise would go to waste (such as potatoes that are too big or small for retail preferences) and to help connect small producers with purchasers that they would not otherwise be able to access and administrate themselves. After a couple of years of relationship development with them, we are receiving produce and value-added products (such as potato scones) to serve in our locations.
Clutivat8 by Sustain, a student-run agricultural sandbox on the Agricultural Campus, offers fresh locally-grown produce weekly during the growing season, with CSAs being delivered locally and to the Halifax Campus.
The Dalhousie Urban Garden is a student society that advocates for food security and encourages students to grow their own food. The group has a small urban plot on the Halifax campus. See their website here: https://www.facebook.com/DalUrbanGarden/
The Dalhousie Student Union has been revitalizing their farmer's market: https://www.instagram.com/beetstreet.market/
Sustainability-themed outlet
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
Food Services host “local food day” features and events in our dining halls every month during the academic year. We choose one of our local partners (such as Bonnyman’s Blueberries or Acadiana Soy Products) and do a full menu takeover for a service highlighting their products. We have them set up a table in a dining hall where they can interact and educate the students around their farming practices, etc. and promote their industry and products and bring awareness to what is in the local community.
Inclusive and local sourcing
A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Based on Food Service’s purchasing data, we have built purchasing relationships with a variety of small, local businesses such as Station Food Hub, AlyMae’s, Acadiana Soy Products, Highliner, and more. We preferentially buy local produce when possible through direct relationships and through pressure on our larger produce distributers such as Keddy Brothers Produce, Vermulen Farms, Valley Farms and Sysco. We also work with social enterprises such as Stonehearth bakery and are developing opportunities with others such as North End Baking Co.
For Aramark (79% of Dal's Food Purchasing):
- Plant based spend is 27.55% of total purchases.
- Certified sustainable (considered by STARS) + SFSC spend is 4.92% of total purchases.
- Total amount spent on DEI and SME vendors is $678,650.12 – 17.14% total spend on DEI + SME.
- DEI spend alone is $243,533.81 – 6.15% total spend.
Local Spend:
- Local spend is at 21.55% for products produced in Nova Scotia (POP)
- Products that originated in Nova Scotia (POO) is around 2.92% - this value is rather hard to populate as we don’t know where all the ingredients from all our products come from. For this reason, we tend to focus on the POP because it can show us our economic impact within our communities better.
- Certified sustainable products is 3.59% of total spend.
For Chartwell's at the Agricultural Campus (11.9% of Dal's Food Purchasing)
- Total plant based spend: 14.3% of total food purchased
- Total sustainable and ethically sourced products: $10,652.63 is around 0.26%
Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Low-impact dining
A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
Aramark: Throughout the school year we host sustainability-themed events every month around topics such as Cool Food Meals- which identifies low carbon impact meals on our menu as assessed by the World Resource Institute. We have dietitian-tabled events in each dining hall every month with a variety of nutrition topics, often including opportunities to expand on sustainable and healthy eating options with students and debunk myths around proteins etc.
Chartwells: Holds Meatless Mondays, Flexitarian Fridays, and vegan theme stations.
Vegan dining program
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Aramark: We also always have a selection of vegetarian and vegan meal and protein options at every service. Some are in their own feature stations and some worked throughout the other dining stations. Our dietitian also offers one-on-one counselling for those struggling to find the right foods for them or those looking to switch to a more plant-based diet to help them navigate that transition well.
Chartwells: Flexitarian dining options are available at all times. Regular dining promotions are done throughout the year based on seasonal locally produced items with the health benefits of eating a vegan diet and eating a proper vegan diet. Logos are printed on dining menus.
Labelling and signage
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Aramark uses window clings to identify the following meal types: 100% local, local ingredients, no gluten, sustainable seafood, vegetarian, and vegan. See here: https://dal.campusdish.com/BeingGreen
There is also signage for Fair Trade coffee, tea, and/or chocolate. The dietitians also review every menu item to be able to make dining options that are vegetarian or vegan visually obvious with specific icons and that there is a healthy balance of offerings for those following plant-based diets.
Chartwells prints logos for vegetarian and vegan options and has a special logo for the on-campus farm.
Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery
Food recovery program
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Our dining halls have used LeanPath in previous years. This past year we have transitioned to inputting a lot more accurate live data into our menu software system to provide more accurate recipe scaling, forecasting, etc.
Chartwells uses the Trim Trax program to track pre-consumer food waste, including production scraps and expired food.
Trayless dining and portion modifications
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
We do not have trays in our dining halls except for a couple of special medical need accommodations. We suggest small portions in different ways to reduce food waste such as by serving utensils offered, pre-portioning, etc.
History: In 2008, all residence dining halls managed by Aramark removed the serving trays and went "trayless". This has eliminated the washing of 4,100 trays per day, or, 900,000 trays per year. Annually, it will save 870,655 litres of water and the associated energy needed to heat it, as well as reduce the use of washing chemicals.
Chartwells dining has been trayless for a number of years.
Food donation
A brief description of the food donation program:
We have been expanding our partnership with Second Harvest and local non-profit partners that serve food-insecure community members. Excess produce from the Cultiv8 farm stand is donated to the AC food bank for students. A new community fridge in the basement of the Student Union Building is often stocked with donations from local farms like Abundant Acres, and meals from the Loaded Ladle.
We are continuing to develop additional opportunities and partners in this area and more locations across campus.
Food materials diversion
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Cooking oil is collected at all food service locations in Halifax and Truro. The oil is in used in the production of soap and animal feed.
Composting
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Food Services are provided with green organics carts to collect loose pre-consumer food waste. The carts are picked up daily by grounds staff.
Material is trucked to Ragged Lake compost facility (HRM composting facility) 15 km from the university. On the AC, compost is trucked to the Colchester Composting Facility, roughly 20 km for campus.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Composting is standard across campus, including in dining halls and food service areas. Organics from public bins are brought to the grounds warehouse, sorted to remove contaminants, and repacked into green carts.
Material is trucked to Ragged Lake compost facility (HRM composting facility) 15 km from the university. On the AC, compost is trucked to the Colchester Composting Facility, roughly 20 km for campus.
Dine-in service ware
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
We have removed all disposables from dine in meal service wear options with 2 exceptions currently: disposable paper napkins and small quantities of prepackaged condiments and desserts for those with high risk food allergies.
Take-away materials
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
Our catering services also have non-disposables as the standard service wear and fiber-based disposables are an additional fee. Reusable box lunch options are used in catering as well for individually packaged meals. Our retail locations have all been transitioning to compostable containers as they become available in our region. All locations have transitioned to paper straws, bowls, and plates and most have transitioned cutlery as well.
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
We offer a $0.20 discount to consumers who bring their own reusable mug at all proprietary locations. We also have a ceramic mug program at two coffee shop locations where customers are free to take or leave a mug as able and we wash and put them in circulation. Many staff members take these back to their offices and then bring them back periodically.
Optional Fields
Aramark regularly incorporates cultural dishes into the menu and also hosts different ethnic food nights. Health and Wellness are a central part of programming. An onsite dietitian helps plan and review menus and is available to meet one-on-one with students to address their personal nutritional health plans. They also have a labeling system called 'Get the Good Stuff' so consumers can easily identify healthy food choices. OSCAR waste wizard sorting system in Killam Library, Tiger’s Choice, demanding fair trade coffees, chocolate, cage-free eggs, more MSC fish products, etc.
https://dal.campusdish.com/
Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.