Florida State University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

“Since the creation of Sodexo, our mission has been to improve the quality of life of our employees and those we serve and to contribute to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions, and countries in which we operate. We make sure that our approach to enhancing people’s quality of life embodies principles of diversity, sustainability, environmental awareness, local prosperity and respect for every kind of resource we work with. As a company that promises to improve the quality of life of people, corporate responsibility lies at the core of everything we do. Better Tomorrow 2025 is designed to keep us on track in relation to our aspirations as a responsible business. It aligns with our corporate strategy and supports our business development, increases our influence and helps us retain and grow services with existing clients. Better Tomorrow 2025 was developed in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created by the United Nations. The SDGs, launched in 2015, set global goals on 17 key areas that governments, businesses and society at large need to act on to achieve a more sustainable, fair and equal world by 2030. We have aligned our commitments to all of these goals. As an Employer: We are working to improve the quality of life of our employees, ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce and foster a culture of environmental responsibility. As a Service Provider: As a service provider, we want to promote local development, source responsibly and reduce carbon emissions and we want to encourage our customers to make healthy lifestyle choices. As a Corporate Citizen: In our role as a corporate citizen, we want to be known for fighting hunger and malnutrition, driving diversity and inclusion, and championing sustainable resource usage We have nine commitments to guide our journey to 2025. Each commitment is tied to a measurable objective. Reporting transparently helps us see the things that have gone well. And by sharing the areas where we’ve encountered challenges, we can find solutions together. Annual reporting helps us build trust with all of our stakeholders by providing clear evidence of the ways we are enhancing quality of life in the communities in which we work.” https://www.sodexousa.com/home/corporate-responsibility.html

In spring 2018 Seminole Dining began hosting a monthly Fresh Market to provide fresh produce to the FSU community and highlight Adopted Farms, local farms, and Fresh from Florida items. Fresh Markets host Meet the Farmer and Chef Demos to educate the campus community of farming in the region and utilizing fresh produce in cooking. Through the Adopted Farm program, FSU students and staff have toured FSU’s first adopted farm, West Coast Mushroom, in Quincy, FL. Events include a tour, mushroom pick, and catered dinner for students from Eco-Reps, the Environmental Service Program, and the Dedman School of Hospitality.

Vegan items are available at all Resident Dining Halls for every meal and include a designated vegan cold bar and a hot vegan dish. All vegan food at dining halls and retailers throughout campus are designated with a green ‘VG’ menu identifier.

In spring of 2018, Sodexo began a Meatless Monday promotion to encourage the FSU community to choose a meatless meal on Monday. Every Monday, individuals receive a discount at specified locations on a vegan or vegetarian meal. During the spring semester, 281 students participated in Meatless Monday. Items that were highlighted include vegetarian lasagna, homemade vegan veggie burger, black bean and plantain burger, and a veggie stir-fry. Sodexo hosted a catered vegan meal for the student organization, Ethical Food Association, to highlight some of Sodexo’s vegan options. Students were also given a survey, so Sodexo could gain knowledge on to improve Meatless Mondays and provide more vegetarian and vegan friendly food options. There were a total of 78 survey responses, which have influenced the menu cycles for meatless options on campus.

Through Fresh from Florida Fish Fridays, Sodexo highlighted Florida sourced and caught fish at Resident Dining Halls. Through the promotional month of February, Sodexo used a total of 890.8 pounds of Florida fish, including: Amberjack, Shrimp, Mutton Snapper, Red Snapper, and Tile Fish. In the month of November, Sodexo featured a Floridian Thanksgiving at a Resident Dining Hall to highlight the Fresh from Florida program and sustainably sourced fish.

In spring 2018, Seminole Dining began hosting a monthly Fresh Market to provide fresh produce to the FSU community and highlight Adopted Farms, Local Farms, and Fresh from Florida items. At Fresh Markets, Sodexo hosts a Meet the Farmer and Chef Demos to educate the FSU community on farming and utilizing fresh produce in cooking.

In all Resident Dining locations, Sodexo utilizes a Featured Partner Board which highlights any local and Fresh from Florida item currently being served. Signs are placed throughout the food stations which coincide with these items to allow students to easily identify Local or Fresh from Florida food options.

Sodexo is a member of the Better Buying Lab, a new initiative of the World Resources Institute (WRI) that brings together the food industry and some of the brightest minds from consumer research, behavioral economics and marketing strategy to test and scale new ways to help consumers buy products that have a lower environmental impact. The first phase of work will identify key consumer and business barriers that prevent people from adopting more plant-based diets. These insights will then be shared with a range of stakeholders in order to scale successful strategies worldwide. Sodexo will support the Lab throughout this process and use the insights gained to enable more customers to choose sustainable-food options by working seamlessly in line with how people actually shop for their food. In addition, Sodexo leadership is on the Menus of Change Sustainable Business Leadership Council. The Sustainable Business Leadership Council is a group of leading chefs, food and foodservice executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and social innovators working to inform, support, and confront issues that are surrounding the food industry today. Sodexo also works directly with World Wildlife Fund, Marine Stewardship Council, and Aquaculture Stewardship Council to develop a sustainable seafood program. Seminole Dining has worked with local produce provider Chapmans Produce to procure local/ Fresh from Florida produce. Sodexo has worked together with Chapmans to create the Adopt a Farm program. In its first year, Seminole Dining has adopted 3 local farms.

As a 2014 winner of the Food Management Best Concept award, Mindful by Sodexo is all about providing choice – to consumers, clients and our own Sodexo staff. The choice to make healthier selections. The choice to learn about food. The choice to start living a healthier lifestyle. We believe that when people are presented with delicious healthy options and choose those foods on their own terms, they are more likely to enjoy them and realize the benefits that come along with a healthier lifestyle – and consequently more likely to repeat those good choices everywhere they go. After all, a healthy lifestyle is not a single meal or act, but an ongoing series of steps. Mindful Means: • Variety of choices • More flavor • Satisfying portions • Healthy indulgence

FSU's food service provider, Sodexo, uses batch cooking to control pre-consumer waste. Batch cooking allows Sodexo to prepare food in suitable serving increments to ensure the campus is offering fresh hot food while minimizing uneaten food at the end of service. Sodexo monitors food trends and prepares based on previous data.

There are no trays in the residence hall dining locations. Students must carry a plate and have limited options to gather more than a plate full of food. Students are encouraged to ask for a sample of an item before putting it on their plate to minimize food waste.

Sodexo supports the Food Recovery Network student group on campus which collects pre-consumer, unused food and donates it to local community organizations. The Athletic Resident Dining Hall, FIGG Performance Table, is a main collection site for food redistribution and is Food Recovery Certified. The Food for Thought Pantry supported by the Dean of Students, received grant from Sodexo for $1,000 to purchase a refrigerator. This increased the types of food donations the Food for Thought Pantry could supply to the campus community. Sodexo also donated 15 cases of Hormel items to the Food for Thought Pantry. Sodexo teamed up with Hormel to create a special menu for several volunteer events at the Kearny Center, a local organization that assists individuals and families facing houselessness, which fed approximately 150 people.

In spring 2018, Sodexo partnered with Dar Pro Solutions of Starke, FL to implement a fryer oil recycling program. Thus far, fryer oil is collected from nine locations including: Chick Fil A, Seminole Café, Suwannee at the Union, 1851, FIGG, and the Den. During a 99-day data collection period, FSU gleaned 11,959 pounds of oil which was used for fuel, animal feed, cleaners, degreasers, and fertilizers.

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Sodexo partnered with the Sustainable Campus office to compost materials collected from ‘Weigh the Waste,’ where volunteers collect all the uneaten food from students’ plates during lunchtime. Composting also occurs at the Parents’ Weekend dinner and brunch, attended by 1,500+ guests, and catered by Sodexo. Materials for these meals are compostable and gathered by student and staff volunteers. All compostable materials are taken to the FSU Nursery, placed in compost bins maintained by the Sustainable Campus office, and the resulting soil is used the Seminole Organic Garden.

Sodexo utilizes reusable service ware at all resident dining halls and provides reusable utensils at all four dining locations within the 1851 building.

Sodexo provides ‘Choose to Reuse’ reusable clamshells at the two Resident Dining locations on campus. Through the ‘Choose to Reuse’ program, students and staff are able to purchase a container for a one-time fee of $5.00. Users fill their container at the all you care to eat location and take their food to go. Utilizing these containers is currently the only option for taking food out of campus dining halls. Since the program’s inception in 2017, 2,748 containers have been purchased by the campus community. Container usage is tracked, and thus far over 10,712 containers have been utilized through the ‘Choose to Reuse’ program.

All coffee locations on campus offer a $0.25 discount when customers bring a reusable mug. Chain coffee locations (i.e. Starbucks or Einstein’s) offer a $0.99 coffee refill with a company branded reusable mug.

The APEX dishwashing system, which was designed to control costs and environmental impact through optimized efficiency, uses 95% less packaging material than prior cleaning methods utilized at FSU. In dining hall locations, Sodexo uses bulk condiment containers rather than individual packets to eliminate single use packaging waste. In catering, the standard practice is to offer refillable towers of water, lemonade, iced tea and other beverages instead of single use bottled beverages. All dairy deliveries at FSU are made in reusable crates which are re-used by the distributer.

Sodexo’s Corporate Responsibility Webpage: http://www.sodexousa.com/home/corporate-responsibility.html Sodexo sustainability: https://seminoledining.sodexomyway.com/explore/sustainability Mindful: https://www.mindful.sodexo.com/