James Madison University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Farmers Markets are organized and hosted by Dining Services; students are allowed to use dining dollars and flex in addition to cash and credit. Our Sustainability team works with 13 local vendors to encourage awareness of our local farming and business community as well as education and promotion of these businesses. There are also a few student-run groups that participate. The Farmers Market is hosted for roughly eight weeks in both the fall and spring semester. Through our payment system, we give students the opportunity to purchase products with their declining balance. During the 23-24 academic year students spent over $53,000 (not including cash or credit card purchases) at the Farmers Market using their campus currency. This was hosted every Wednesday from August 30th to October 25th and March 20th to May 1st. 

JMU Dining Services has a retail dining location on campus that sources locally whenever possible. The location, Bistro 1908, sources local, 100% grass-fed beef all year round and other local products like cucumbers and lettuce from a local food distributor called 4P. Bistro 1908 offers vegan and vegetarian burgers sourced from a local vendor, No Bull Burger, who came to talk to students and give samples in Fall of 2023.

JMU Dining supports local and SWaM certified businesses. Many of our compostable paper products come from Riverside which is SWaM certified and only a few hours away. We also purchase a variety of local products throughout the year, including Blue Ridge Bucha, from a local food hub called 4P Foods. 4P helps connect JMU Dining with local farms for things like hand fruit in dining halls and for special events like a Farm to Fork dinner. A few vendors in JMU Dining's Farmers Market are SWaM certified and sell their goods in one of our convenience stores, Mr. Chips.

JMU Dining is committed to reducing its carbon footprint through the promotion of low impact dining events. The production of meats and animal by-products are responsible for higher carbon output, greater water usage, and more greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based foods. Dining Services emphasizes change in the dining halls and retail locations by increasing vegetarian/vegan options and promoting a healthy lifestyle. In fall of 2023, the plant-forward station in one residential dining hall was expanded to offer new side dishes and oat milk ice cream.

On January 21st, 2020 we began a series of events called “Try This!” where we feature a plant-forward or plant-based item for guests to try. This morphed into a monthly tasting game called "Is it Vegan?" Our chefs make two versions of the same dish (one vegan and one non-vegan) and guests get to try both and guess for a prize. Our student-workers use it as an opportunity to show how vegan food can be delicious and easy to incorporate into one's diet to help the planet.

In 2022, Aramark signed the Cool Foods Pledge through the World Resource Institute as a way to reduce emissions from food by 25% by 2030. Cool Food meals are certified low-carbon recipes. They have on average 38% less emissions than an average meal based on many factors such as the amount of land and water used in production. This rolled out to JMU soon after where we serve Cool Food meals every day in both residential dining halls. There are a variety of options, both plant-forward and with animal products. From July 2023 to May 2024, there were 297 Coolfood recipes and 724,566 portions of Coolfood meals served. 

Residential dining offers meatless chicken, meatless beefy crumbles, and vegan garden burgers for lunch and dinner daily. Both E-Hall and D-Hall residential locations offer rotation vegan entrees that incorporate tofu, beans, meatless beefy crumbles and hummus as the complete protein as well as a station dedicated entirely to vegan entrees and desserts. They also always provide non-dairy milk and a non-dairy yogurt (upon request). Food courts have meatless chicken and hummus available at delis. Retail locations offer many vegan options such as vegan pizza, No Bull Burgers, BYO salad stations, and much more. Our grab-and-go program offers vegan options that change every two weeks to offer variety. We made vegan options more visible by adding large stickers in our dining locations so students know what their options are.

Students wanting to learn more about vegan options on campus can meet with our Registered Dietitian to find diverse, complete protein vegan options.

In one main residential dining location we have a sustainability board featuring four 8.5x11 signs and a 24x28 poster holder for events and major campaigns. We also integrate signage within our other poster space and on digital screens across the other locations including promotion of Cool Foods. Sustainability has its own messaging and social media posts that are integrated with Dining and University initiatives that are shared on social media. Other methods of labeling and signage include sneeze guards and social media campaigns. Additionally, we maintain accurate signs in dining areas which are consistent in appearance and products with the campus signs. In the fall of 2023, we introduced a signage campaign called "Green Bites" which placed carrot stickers at stations/locations where guests could find plant-forward options. Examples of messaging related to low impact food choices and sustainability practices include "Make the Swap from Single Use Plastics," an effort to reduce the use of plastics and single use disposable items, and "Take Only What You Can Eat," an effort to reduce wasted food.

The Food Management Process at Aramark, also known as the 5P Process, is enabled via five basic steps: Plan, Product, Production, Portion and Post Analysis. Successful and repeated achievement of the required activities in each step drives efficiencies that reduce waste, increase the positive social and economic impact of our food operations, and provide safe, high-quality food consistently produced with predictable and repeatable results.

JMU Dining participates with Enable and their powerful application to help our organization understand exactly how and why food is being wasted and then take decisive action to achieve real, measurable results. Through Enable’s automated system, we strive to prevent food waste by understanding where inefficiencies occur and how we can eliminate over-preparing food. JMU Dining is also committed to reducing food waste during school breaks when locations are closed. We collect fresh food that would otherwise go bad over break and donate it to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. We also recently finished a food recovery pilot in collaboration with the Community Engagement and Volunteer Center where we recovered 90 pounds and have plans to expand it next year on a weekly basis. 

JMU implemented trayless dining facilities throughout campus 10 years ago. By eliminating trays, Dining Services has been able to reduce water usage and post-consumer food waste - saving 1/2 gallon per customer at each meal. 

In March of 2024, JMU Dining tested a program called Pick Your Portion to empower students to choose the portion they want to customize their plate and reduce food waste. This came from student feedback about not wanting to waste food but being overserved by staff. We trained our staff at several stations in one residential dining hall to ask students if they want a whole or half sandwich, for example. No data is available at this time, but it has received positive feedback from guests and is being utilized. The program is planned to expand to our other residential dining hall next year. 

JMU Dining Services follows a similar approach to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Food Recovery Hierarchy, with source reduction being the first step to managing a waste stream. Once all unnecessary waste is eliminated, we determine another purpose or reuse the material. We donate fresh produce to the on-campus pantry every week and allow them to order frozen meals and toiletries for free through our convenience store. During the 23-24 academic year, we donated about 2,500 pounds of food to the campus pantry. We also donated 3,500 meal vouchers for students facing food insecurity to redeem on campus. In addition, as mentioned before, we donate unused food during every school break. Within the same time period, we donated 6,422 pounds of food to local organizations. If the material can no longer be used in its current state, we then compost the leftover food. Additionally, we participate in a canned food drive with the university, donating to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

In addition to recycling with the university, Dining Services also recycles 100% of used fryer oil in conjunction with Quest Recycling and Restaurant Technologies, who diverts the oil into biodiesel and animal feed. During the 2023-2024 academic year, 49,229 pounds of oil were recycled. 

A comprehensive waste reduction effort at JMU includes composting pre-consumer food waste as well as recycling materials, recycling fryer oil, and water reduction. All pre-consumer food waste is composted or donated. Many kitchens have clear bins where dining employees toss in any pre-consumer food waste or compostable material to be composted like fruit and vegetable peels. During the 2023-2024 academic year, 156.96 net tons were collected. 

Both residential dining locations on JMU’s campus participate in the post-consumer food waste composting process. At the residential dining locations, dish staff scrape all leftover food scraps to be broken down by a pulper. We have compostable containers and cutlery at all of our retail locations, but we do not collect post-consumer compost there due to high levels of contamination. 

Reusable service ware is utilized in both residential dining locations. This includes reusable silverware, dishes, and cups. 

JMU Dining Services offers compostable to-go containers as well for students to use at retail locations throughout campus. However, we do not collect them for compost due to high contamination rates in the past.

We also have a reusable to-go container program. This has been implemented at Market 64, Bistro 1908, Memorial Corner Bistro, and Festival. Guests simply ask for a container when ordering and then return it at one of the collection bins around campus. From September 2023 to April 2024, there were 233 containers used.

JMU Dining Services offers incentives for using reusable beverage containers in place of single-use, disposable cups and bottles. Reusable beverage containers are accepted in all dining locations on campus, including national brands. As an incentive, a ten or twenty-five cent discount is offered on beverages purchased with a reusable cup at three locations. Starbucks offers a $.25 discount and Dunkin Donuts and Java City offer $.10 discounts. We also offer incentives for using our reusable to-go containers. When they are returned in person, guests receive a JMU Dining coupon. 

Sustainability Dining Guide: https://jmu.campusdish.com/Sustainability/WhatAreWeDoing