Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.29
Liaison Bonnie Dong
Submission Date Aug. 31, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

MacEwan University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.63 / 2.00 Susan Cooper
Coordinator, Hospitality Services
Retail & Campus Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1: Sustainable Dining Initiatives 

Sustainable Dining Policy

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Aramark will make every reasonable effort to provide a healthy and safe work environment for our staff, customers and visitors and to incorporate environmental considerations into decision making and planning. All supervisors and employees must be dedicated to the objective of reducing the environmental releases and improving waste management and energy and water conservation both off and on the job. https://www.aramark.com/en/about-us/corporate-responsibility/environmental-sustainability

On-Campus Sourcing 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
Yes

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Yes, we source herbs and peppers from our on campus Tower Garden and microgreens from our two urban cultivators located in our main food service retail area. We also use honey from our on-campus Urban Beekeeping Project.

Local Community Engagement 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, and/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:
Riverbend Gardens delivers food boxes to MacEwan. MacEwan students, employees and community members can pick up their food boxes once a week. https://riverbendcsa.ca/csa/locations/

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:
A select rotation of Vegan Salads, Sandwiches and Soups operates daily throughout the semester. We have brought in a selection of local vegan cookies (Bloom), selection of Raw vegan deserts (Nabati) and also offer a selection of frozen vegan products at the Campus Convenience Store.

Low-Impact Dining Events 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
No

A brief description of the low impact dining events:
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Sustainability-Themed Meals 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
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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:
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Labeling and Signage 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labeling and signage in dining halls?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
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Outreach and Education 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
Host monthly Fair Trade Friday table events (Fairtrade Friday) to engage and educate campus community about fairtrade practices. Hold events during Fair Trade Campus week in September. We highlight options for guests in menus for which on-campus produced honey and herbs are used. Furthermore, Food Services participates in Course Sustainability 101 campus food tours (fall & winter term).

Other Initiatives 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have other sustainability-related initiatives (e.g. health and wellness initiatives, making culturally diverse options available)?:
Yes

A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
Culturally Diverse: We have on campus local food service partners who operate Explore India (authentic Indian food), Filistix (Filipino/Asian fusion food) and Two to Taco (authentic Mexican street food) We feature locallly-made (vegan) egg & dairy-free Bloom cookies in non-franchised food service outlets. Bloomcookieco.ca The majority of our seafood is certified by Canada’s Ocean Wise Program.

Part 2: Food and Dining Waste 

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:
We use the LeanPath system for waste management. LeanPath employs the latest technology to measure and record organic waste and enables us to set targets based the most accurate and consistent data.The reports generated by the system will even make recommendations based on certain trends, over-production of certain items and at certain stations in order to minimize the potential for waste right from the point of production. Food Services defines pre-consumer waste as product trim, cores, spoiled product, expired product, or product that is ruined or deemed unsuitable for production. Staff have specific containers where all food is disposed; then weighed for tracking/recording and assessed by a supervisor. This is tracked as weight per transaction. Assessment enables Food Services to determine if they are wasting in trim, producing too much, ordering too much and having it spoil, etc.

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:
All food service outlets are trayless. Uncombo'd menus (single menu items) are available to customers can order soup only, veg only, salad only or 1/2 soup/salad, single offerings of single menu items to reduce over production and overpurchasing.

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:
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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 (e.g. converting cooking oil to fuel, on-site anaerobic digestion)?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Cooking oil (fryers) picked up by local farmer for animal feed (Facilities contract).

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:
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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:
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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:
Deposit program allows use of reusable serviceware including soup and general food containers

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:
Green to Go: Reusable clamshell to-go meal containers provided to customers for a $5 deposit. Customers return to food services to be cleaned and receive a new container next time they purchase their meals. When using the re-usable container customer receives a $.75 discount on their meal. Catering uses silverware, china dishware and service ware to reduce amount of disposal material used. Our operation uses third party certified compostable cutlery and lunch boxes.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Green to Go Program incentive - $0.75 discount every time customer uses Green to Go. Reusable Mug discount - $0.10 discount at all coffee outlets when customers use reusable mugs.

Other Materials Management Initiatives 

Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented other materials management initiatives to minimize waste not covered above (e.g. working with vendors and other entities to reduce waste from food packaging)?:
Yes

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
Bottle/can/plastic milk container returns to recycle depot weekly. Wooden Pallets and hard plastic containers (cold beverage containers) are returned to vendors.Cardboard broken down, separated and re-cycled

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://www.macewaneats.ca/sustainability

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.