Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 45.94
Liaison Robin Frederick
Submission Date July 21, 2022

STARS v2.2

Indiana University Southeast
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.57 / 2.00 Julie Ingram
Director of Conference and Dining Services
Dining Services
"---" 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?:
No

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

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?:
No

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
---

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
0

Low-impact dining

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
No

A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
---

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:
Prior to COVID-19, the Commons Food Court offered Meatless Mondays twice a month. We offer a vegan wrap daily on our deli menu. We provide signage to indicate that it was vegan-friendly. Vegetables served on our entrée line are prepared vegan approximately every day. We encourage students to ask if the vegetables were prepared vegan if they were uncertain.
Once IUS re-opens the Commons Food Court, we intend to re-introduce Meatless Mondays, continue to serve a vegan wrap on our deli line, and prepare vegetables that are vegan friendly.

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?:
No

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

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:
---

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:
---

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?:
No

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
---

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:
The Commons Food Court serves primarily on reusable service-ware (metal silverware, ceramic/glass dishes).

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 Commons offers reusable dishware. The dining services in the Commons also provided compostable to-go containers. Those to-go containers were purchased through a vendor that operates (operated) through GFS (https://www.gfs.com/en-us). Those items are not currently available due to COVID-19 restrictions but will re-introduce them once those restrictions have been lifted.

All of the cups, lids, straws, and stirs used in the University Grounds Coffee Shop are compostable and we purchase those directly from Nestle Coffee Partners- which is our vendor resource for Non-Traditional Starbucks or the WPS (We Proudly Serve) products. The items listed are currently available to customers:
https://www.nestlecoffeepartnerssl.com/about-us/sustainability

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
The University Grounds Coffee Shop has a BYOM (bring your own mug) program. This program allowed customers to save $.15 each time they ordered a coffee or tea. This program is not currently active due to COVID-19 restrictions but will be re-introduced once those restrictions are lifted.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
IUS has implemented the Healthy IU Vending initiative

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://www.ius.edu/dining-services/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data for this credit was retrieved from the Director of Conference and Dining Services and the following links:

Additional Context
Insight on Healthy IU Vending Initiative: https://healthy.iu.edu/campus-programs-services/southeast/resources.html

The goal of the healthy vending machines is to have at least 33% "green" (healthy) items and no more than 33% "red" (not-so-healthy) items.

Educational Information; What is a healthy snack?
No more than 200 calories
No more than 240 mg sodium
Zero-g trans fat and no partially hydrogenated oils
No more than 1 g saturated fat (excludes nuts and seeds)
No more than 25% of calories from sugar (excludes yogurt and fruit)
No regular chips"

Healthy IU provides the following links for the public, campus personnel, and residents to find farmers' markets and food assistance availability.

USDA Farmers Market Directory:
https://www.ams.usda.gov/local-food-directories/farmersmarkets

Indiana Food Assistance Availability Map:
https://www.in.gov/fssa/dfr/food-assistance-availability-map/

The dining services typically makes the food menu available online:
https://www.ius.edu/dining-services/

Vendors
Compostable to-go containers
https://www.gfs.com/en-us

Nestle Coffee Partners- which is our vendor resource for Non-Traditional Starbucks or the WPS (We Proudly Serve) products:
https://www.nestlecoffeepartnerssl.com/about-us/sustainability.

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.