| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.96 |
| Liaison | Olivia Herron |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Miami University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.88 / 2.00 |
Jon
Brubaker Manager of Food Purchasing Housing, Dining, Recreation & Business Services |
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Miami Dining sources as much food as possible from the Institute for Food Farm, which is a working farm staffed by students, faculty, and volunteers.
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?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
The campus partners with and supports the CSA “crop box” program through the Institute for Food. Each week, during the summer and fall months, subscribers take home a box or bag packed full of fresh, seasonal vegetables grown on the Institute for Food farm. Boxes are filled each week with sustainably grown staple crops such as lettuce, onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and broccoli. Self-selection options will focus on seasonally available specialty crops such as bok choy, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, hot peppers, and eggplant. This program currently has over 100 members and more than 15% are students.
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?:
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Vegan options are accessible to everyone and are available in all operations for all meal periods. We label all vegan options, as well as vegetarian options. Also, Miami University offers a database for students, faculty, and staff to search for food options, as well as nutritional facts. This database has a section to filter items individuals may be allergic to, as well as vegan/vegetarian options.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events:
Miami University hosts a Healthy Miami Special Meal every semester that highlights healthy, vegetarian, and vegan dishes across campus.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
Miami University highlights our sustainable food items on our Nutrition Walls, located within dining halls.
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
MacCracken Market traditionally offers the most local baked goods, chocolates, sustainably raised meats and a wide variety of small local vendors/producers out of the dining halls. MacCracken Market continues to be a showplace for local/sustainable foods. The majority of these items are also available across campus in various c-stores.
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
Miami University markets and showcases our Fair Trade items, as well as our locally raised produce throughout the dining halls as much as we can.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
Numerous staff members in Food & Beverage work with the Kinesiology department throughout the year. Healthy sustainable food is typically a focal point of many of their projects.
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)?:
A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
Healthy Miami Dinners and including salad bars in all commons are other ways we have increased our efforts to provide Miami students with more healthy options.
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?:
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Food & Beverage has modeled our own waste reduction program after the Lean path program. This reduction program requires dining services to measure and track waste daily in all operations. This has helped decrease the amount of food waste from dining halls.
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?:
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
Miami Dining is 100% trayless.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
A brief description of the food donation program:
Miami Dining has a long-standing relationship with new Life Mission out of Hamilton OH. Excess products are donated when there is no other potential use for them.
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)?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
One location on campus, Garden Commons, utilizes an anaerobic digestion system.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Post-consumer compost containers are conveniently located across campus.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
There is no disposable service ware [cups, plates, lids, etc] utilized in any of our dining commons on campus.
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)?:
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
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)?:
A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
Campus Services continually analyzes our use of disposables, and over the past years have consolidated greatly the variety we use. This is an ongoing initiative for the University.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.