Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 48.73
Liaison Claire Rodgers
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.75 / 2.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives

Local community engagement

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or urban agriculture project, or support such a program in the local community?:
Yes

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Professor Ben Linder runs a Sustainable Beekeeping CSA, where Olin community members invest in the beekeeping and honey production and receive honey at the end of the semester. The CSA employs sustainable principles to care for the bees and uses minimal treatments.

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:
---

Inclusive and local sourcing

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor support disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its food and beverage purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
The dining hall buys all of its fish from a local vendor, and recently hired a local company to serve sushi on campus.

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
---

Low-impact dining

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
Olin has a Meatless Tuesdays program, where no meat is served at lunch on Tuesdays except for the chicken in the salad bar. The dining hall staff are trying to increase the number of vegetarian and vegan options available by creating new recipes, such as the new vegan, allergen free burger patty.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free options are incorporated into the regular entree. This way there isn't a separate, less varied option for people with dietary restrictions.

Labelling and signage 

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

A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
The dining hall has up-to-date signage about Rebecca’s Culinary Group’s commitment to sustainability and sustainable initiatives, vegan and vegetarian meal options, fair trade coffee, and compostable cups/utensils. At the compost bins, there are also signs detailing what can be composted, what should be recycled, and what needs to be thrown away.

Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery

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?:
No

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Sam Eldridge, the Executive Chef, is working on weighing the post-consumer food waste and creating a graph/visual representation to show the community how much food waste they produce and encourage them to reduce that waste.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
Trays are kept available “upon request” for guests in order to save water and energy from washing less dishes.
There are regular reminders to only take what you’re going to eat through emails and notices. The plate and serving utensil size is also limited. Limiting the serving utensils to small tongs cuts down on waste. Rebecca's uses 7.5 inch plates instead of 9 or 10 inch dinner plates to limit serving size.

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:
---

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Rebecca's sends fryolater oil to a company that picks it up and turns it into biofuel and also has a machine that cleans the oil so that it doesn't need to be recycled as often.

Composting 

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:
Olin hires Cero Cooperative for pre- and post-consumer food composting. When preparing meals, the chefs place food scraps in clean, clear plastic bins so that they can see how much compost they and the other chefs are creating and then give each other suggestions on how to utilize parts of foods that they were planning to compost. Any remaining food scraps are 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:
Also in conjunction with Cero Cooperative, there are large compost bins in the dining hall for consumers to place their food waste in, and smaller compost bins in the dorm kitchens.

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:
There are reusable utensils, cups, and plates for "dine in" meals.

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)?:
Yes

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
The dining hall has reusable to-go boxes, called Ozzie boxes, that are available for purchase. Once consumers use them, they can bring them back to the dining hall and exchange them for a token. The box itself will be washed, sanitized, and reused, while the consumer can exchange the token for another Ozzie box the next time they need one.

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?:
No

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

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
---

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
http://rebeccascafe.com/olin/our-commitments/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Sam Eldridge, Executive Chef

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.