Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 47.40
Liaison Havina Georgieva
Submission Date April 4, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

FIE: Foundation for International Education
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 2.00 Mieke Berg
Director of Residence Life
Residence Life
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1: Sustainable Dining Initiatives 

Sustainable Dining Policy

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

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
FIE does not have dining facilities as our residence halls are self-catering. However, we support 'Meat-Free Mondays' (MFM), an initiative to promote awareness of the environmental impact of eating meat. FIE created MFM magnets and placed them on all refrigerators in its facilities as a reminder for all staff, faculty and students. Also, meat-free recipe cards were created and are placed in our community kitchens. Additional Meat-Free Monday posters are placed in all flats and kitchens to promote the initiative. Students have also been provided with meat-free cooking sessions through FIE's academic and extra-curricular programs. Venues for co-and-extra-curricular activities are vetted to ensure they offer meat-free options and FIE students are encouraged to communicate with FIE staff any dietary restrictions, including vegetarian and vegan, in order to ensure they are catered for. More information can be found on our website: http://www.fie.org.uk/about-us/our-values/fie-supports

On-Campus Sourcing 

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:
---

Local Community Engagement 

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:
---

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?:
No

A brief description of the vegan dining program:
---

Low-Impact Dining Events 

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:
As noted above, although all of FIE residences are self-catering and do not have a dining program, FIE promotes 'Meat-Free Mondays' (http://www.meatfreemondays.com/) through MFM designed magnets on all refrigerators, meat-free recipe cards designed by FIE staff and distributed in all kitchens, and ensuring meat-free and/or vegan options are available at outside venues utilized for academic or social events.

Sustainability-Themed Meals 

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:
---

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:
---

Labeling and Signage 

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:
All of our residences have posters promoting 'Meat-Free Monday' prominently displayed; these posters (http://www.meatfreemondays.com/) illustrate the environmental impact just one meat-free day a week can have. Smaller laminated handouts and 'Meat-Free Monday' magnets have been placed in the self-catering kitchens as additional reminders to students while they are cooking or going in to the refrigerator.

Outreach and Education 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
No

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

Other Initiatives 

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:
Former and current FIE students who have received scholarships have worked to create "Guides to London" for culturally diverse dining options; these, in the past, have included information on where students can find kosher foods, Cuban foods, and other Latino/a cuisines. Students recently created sustainable and meat-free resources for dining out in London.

Part 2: Food and Dining Waste 

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:
During the 2017 spring semester, two FIE scholarship students organised a screening and after-viewing discussion on the documentary "Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story". At the screening, FIE's administration team also announced a new initiative whereby stickers are now offered in all FIE kitchens (student residences as well as Foundation House) for those to label a food item to invite another to consume it when one foresees not being able to finish it his/herself before it spoils. This ‘community fridge’ initiative serves as a ‘food waste prevention’ system at FIE.

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?:
No

A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
N/A as FIE does not have a dinning hall nor dining services.

Food Donation 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
No

A brief description of the food donation program:
N/A as FIE does not have a dinning hall nor dining services.

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 (e.g. converting cooking oil to fuel, on-site anaerobic digestion)?:
No

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
N/A as FIE does not have a dinning hall nor dining services.

Composting 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
---

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
---

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:
FIE's self-catering kitchens provide all cutlery, dishes and plates, and mugs and glasses for students and staff, which are all reusable. FIE hosted events within the facilities utilise these reusable resources. For larger receptions or events, if food is provided, disposable bowls and plates ordered from The Wholeleaf Co. (http://www.thewholeleafco.com/page/1/compostable_palm_leaf_tableware/) are used, thus providing waste free, sustainable tableware and cutlery while supporting the company's goals of sustaining fair employment in rural India. A water fountain in our academic building encourages reusable/refillable water bottles; no disposable cups are provided. Reusable water bottles (http://www.ohyo.me/) are available for purchase for all students and staff; proceeds benefit FIE's charities. Also, at Foundation House the kitchen has a separate, filtered water tap.

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)?:
No

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
N/A as FIE does not have a dinning hall nor dining services.

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?:
No

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
N/A as FIE does not have a dinning hall nor dining services.

Other Materials Management Initiatives 

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:
N/A as FIE does not have a dinning hall nor dining services.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Please do take into consideration that as FIE does not have a student dining service and therefore many of the criteria in this section are 'not applicable' to FIE. FIE kindly asks that those questions in turn not be counted against FIE's scoring (i.e. an amending of the total points possible for FIE in this section as some questions were indeed applicable and beneficial to mention while others were entirely not applicable.)

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.