Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.55
Liaison Luis Maggiori
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Lane Community College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.43 / 2.00 Audreyanna O'Brion
Administrative Specialist
F
"---" 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:
The Learning Garden is a student-funded organic garden that works to educate students about local and regional food cultivation and farm-to-table eating, and also supplies fresh produce to the Culinary Arts Program for use in classes and in the Renaissance Room restaurant. The garden also supplies fresh produce for the Center for Meeting and Learning, Lane’s catering department. In response to changing growing climate in the Willamette Valley, the Learning Garden has recently begun to experiment with growing out-of-zone crops. Student contact hours in the garden have increased yearly, and now average about 2,500 hours per academic year.

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:
Run by students, for students, the on-campus Rainy Day Food Pantry distributes free food and clothing to low-income students.

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:
---

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:
Meatless Mondays at all food stations.

Learning Garden provides fresh produce grown on campus to be used in plant-based menu items.

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:
Every food station has a vegan option on each of their menus.

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:
Lane participates in the Global Meatless Mondays campaign. This campaign includes signage around campus, on social media, and next to register in each one of the food stations with facts about the health, environmental, and economic impacts of taking a break from meat, as well as providing consumers with discounts on vegan and vegetarian food options on all of the menus.

We also mark compost bins with signage and work to minimize food waste in all eating areas. Anything that is plant-based is labeled, as is vegan and vegetarian options.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the food donation program:
Lane's Culinary Department donates all leftover catering service food to the Eugene Mission for distributing to homeless and low income families in the area.

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:
All food scraps from pre-consumer food preparation and post consumer waste are sent to Rexius Forest Products to be composted into soil.

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:
During fiscal year 2018 all pre-consumer food waste is collected in kitchens for composting.

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:
Lane's composting program began in 2004 when Recycling began collecting food scraps from Food Services and composting them in an Earth Tub in vessel composter. That year, Lane recycled approximately 13 tons of food scraps. In 2012-13, Lane Community College composted over 36 tons of food waste and compostable material. In the past ten years, Lane Community College composted 168 tons of food waste and compostable material.
Today, Lane composts not only food scraps from all food producing locations but also offers full-service composting, which includes plates, utensil, cups, and more.

Dine-in service ware 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
No

A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
---

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:
Lane Community College offers full-service composting, which includes plates, bowls, utensils, cups, coffee filters, tea bags, paper towels and napkins, condiment cups and lids, soda cups without lids, and clear cups with lids.

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:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Meatless_Mondays.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.