Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.17
Liaison Jamey Pavey
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Earlham College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 2.00 Steve May
Director of Dining Services
Metz
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:

"We pledge to be environmental stewards by working closely with clients, sustainability partners and vendors on dining concepts, products and programs that meet your needs while protecting resources for future generations."
From http://metzculinary.com/why-metz/sustainability/


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
No

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
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Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor 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?:
No

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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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:

Earlham College’s dining program has offered both vegetarian and vegan offerings for many years. Currently in Resident Dining area there is a separate are called the “Garden Gourmet” that features one vegan entrée and one vegetarian entrée for both lunch and dinner. Entrees are accompanied by side dishes and a specialty salad bar that features a variety of vegan and vegetarian options. In addition there are other food stations with in the Resident Dining program that offer vegan and vegetarian selections. For example, the omelet station at breakfast offers a Tofu scramble made to order. The soup station always offers one vegan or vegetarian soup selection. Vegan and vegetarian options are labeled as such. There is a bakery vegan dessert offered at each meal as well as a soy or rice based ice cream.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events:

Metz, in partnership with the veggie club on-campus host Meatless Mondays.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
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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:

Rose City Coffee Co-op was started by Earlham students who were inspired by Guilford College’s student-run coffee shop. This coffee shop is completely volunteer run and it is funded by the Office of Student Life. Members get a free drink for each shift they work plus 25% off anything they buy while they’re off shift.

Rose City’s mission is:
To be an environmentally and socially responsible coffee non-profit co-op, able to provide coffee, tea and (possibly in the future) pastries to the students, faculty, and staff of Earlham College, as well as the wider Richmond community. Currently, all coffee beans are sustainably sourced, fair trade.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labeling and signage in dining halls?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:

There are digital and physical display boards in the dining halls that circulate information about sustainable dining practices such as the benefits of eating local and raising awareness about free range and antibiotic free chickens, amongst many other information campaigns.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:

There is a veggie club run by students and funded by the Office of Student Life whose mission is to encourage eating plant based food, discuss the positive impact of vegetarianism and other resources to reduce meat and dairy consumption.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have other sustainability-related initiatives (e.g. health and wellness initiatives, making culturally diverse options available)?:
Yes

A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:

Wellness programs regularly offers programs to encourage healthy lifestyles, for example a "Maintain, not Gain" program over the Thanksgiving and winter holidays. These are open to all members of the campus community


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?:
No

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:

Our dining services provider, Metz, aims to only purchase what needed. Surplus pre-consumer material is donated to nearby community kitchens such as Hope House, local schools and the EC Food Pantry for students.


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:

Beginning in August 2010, Earlham College began a completely trayless dining program. There are no trays available in any of the Earlham College Dining venues.


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:

Surplus pre-consumer material is donated to nearby community kitchens such as Hope House, local schools and the EC Food Pantry for students.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses (e.g. converting cooking oil to fuel, on-site anaerobic digestion)?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:

Used cooking oil is currently being collected by the food service provider and it is being rerouted out of the landfill


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:

All pre-consumer food waste is collected and composted.


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 is collected at the plate return station in the Dining Hall. Student Sustainability Corps members transport the compostable material from dining services to our campus farm. It then enters the composting cycle at the farm.


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:

All dine in meals use reusable service ware (plates/bowls, utensils, and cups).


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:

Earlham has had a reusable to-go container program in place since 1997 as the result of student’s goal to eliminate the use of Styrofoam on campus. A Student/faculty/staff member signs up for the program in the dining service office and are given a reusable container that they trade for a clean container each time they take a meal to-go from the dining hall.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:

Reusable coffee mugs entitle the student to pay for a size smaller coffee than they purchase at the coffee shop. For example, if a students brings in a reusable mug that is the size of a medium cup they will pay for a small coffee.


Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented other materials management initiatives to minimize waste not covered above (e.g. working with vendors and other entities to reduce waste from food packaging)?:
No

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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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