Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 69.24
Liaison Kelsey Beal
Submission Date July 12, 2024

STARS v2.2

Indiana University Indianapolis
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 2.00 Kelsey Beal
Sustainbility Analyst
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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:

IUPUI Urban Gardens IUPUI proudly features two urban gardens on campus: The New York Street Garden, located east of the White River, and the Central Garden, located east of the University Library. These organic gardens produce hundreds of pounds of fresh produce annually, which is used by IUPUI Food Services and Paw's Pantry.


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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:

Simply Puur is a new dining concept at the IUPUI Campus Center. Simply Puur's menu focuses on offering fresh, healthy, sustainable items. Simply Puur offers minimally processed menu selections with a focus on well-being and sustainability. The focus is on local and organic ingredients, with much of the menu being cooked from scratch. They also utilize the Office of Sustainability's urban gardens


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:

IUPUI Food Services, operated by Chartwells, supports and purchases from local farms. See a list of the Sustainability and Wellness attributes: https://dineoncampus.com/iupui/sustainability


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

  1. Meatless Mondays: This program emphasizes vegetarian and vegan cuisine in dining halls on Mondays.

  2. Green Catering Guide: https://sustainability.indianapolis.iu.edu/operations/food/green-catering-guide-final.pdf


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:

Meatless Mondays - This program emphasizes vegetarian and vegan cuisine in dining halls on Mondays. Vegan and vegetarian meal options are available at Tower Dining all other times as well. Vegan options are available for all catered meals. Vegetarian and Vegan Options are also available at the Campus Market.


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:

Meals in Tower Dining are labeled to indicate vegetarian and vegan options. Items offered in The Campus Market are also labeled accordingly. IUPUI Food Services also provides an online tool that provides a menu listing of all locations that includes the nutritional content for each item: https://dineoncampus.com/iupui/whats-on-the-menu


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?:
Yes

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

Paws Pantry accepts rescuable food items from IUPUI Food Services and distributes them to campus community members in need. The items they accept most often are those that are pre-packaged for individual use.


https://studentaffairs.indianapolis.iu.edu/advocacy-resources/paws-pantry.html


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:

IUPUI Food Services utilizes trayless dining, which curtails food waste, promotes healthier eating habits through portion control, and reduces the amount of water and energy used for washing the trays. https://dineoncampus.com/iupui/sustainability


Food donation 

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:

Paws Pantry is a food pantry open to the IUPUI community.  Users can visit the pantry once per week. 


https://studentaffairs.indianapolis.iu.edu/advocacy-resources/paws-pantry.html


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:

Cooking oil is collected to be cleaned and recycled.


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:

There are no compost haulers in Central Indiana capable of accepting the volume of food waste produced in kitchen areas on campus. 


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:

IUPUI has a composting program for students in the Residence Halls. https://sustainability.iupui.edu/engagement/residential-compost/index.html


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:

The dining hall uses reusable service-ware (metal silverware, ceramic dishes, reusable plastic cups) that are washed and re-stocked.


Zero waste catering options are available at IUPUI. https://iupui.catertrax.com/upload/guideline.pdf


IUPUI Food Services offers many sustainable catering options, including vegetarian and vegan options, local and seasonal produce, cruelty-free animal products, and zero waste catered meals.


See the Green Catering Guide: https://sustainability.iupui.edu/engagement/green-events/green-catering-guide-v.2.pdf


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:

IUPUI Food Services offers a reusable To Go program utilizing containers that can be returned and exchanged for a new container for their next meal.


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:
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Optional Fields

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

  1. Healthy IU (https://healthy.iu.edu/) is a a university-wide employee wellness program that has resources available for free to all employees. Healthy IU's objectives are to raise awareness, build skills and create an environment where the healthy choice is the easy choice. 

  2. Nutrition Counseling and Weight Management programs are services provided by Healthy IU and available to the IUPUI community https://healthy.iu.edu/wellness-information/nutrition/index.html


Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs 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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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.