Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	59.70
Liaison	Tracey Coronado
Submission Date	April 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Missouri State University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.00 / 2.00	Doug Neidigh Sustainability Coordinator Environmental Management

"---" 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:

Our dining services hosts an annual farmers market and community garden event in dining centers. They also provide recycled cleaned food containers to the Hovey House Community Garden in Springfield for their plant starters. They also provide seeds, volunteers, and produce to the Weller Community Garden in Springfield.

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?:

Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:

Madison Avenue Pasta Company features primarily local, sustainably sources or campus grown food. All packaging is sustainable (recyclable or compostable) and featured local bottled beverages in recyclable glass containers.

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?:

Yes

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

Dining services purchases bread from Neighbors Mill for dining centers, and popcorn from Ozark Mountain Popcorn company. These are SME's.

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:

In conjunction with the Residence Hall Association in the fall of 2013 we began Meatless Monday at Missouri State University. We provide entrée options that are free of meat at lunch in Blair-Shannon and in Garst at dinner on Mondays.

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:

Vegan dining is available for students in the dining halls at every meal through Balanced U and Rooted lines. Vegan items are identified by a vegan logo. This program received an A+ rating from PETA colleges and universities.

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:

Dining halls feature a series of signage to discuss waste reduction and our sustainability practices including composting, recycling and purchase of sustainable products. This information has been added to new sustainability scorecards.

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?:

Yes

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:

We utilize a program called Waste Not in which we collect all the waste as were doing food production in special containers and then those containers are weighed and entered into a log every day. In addition to tracking, we have several waste prevention protocols and programs.

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 dining halls have been trayless since Fall 2010. We have implemented a portion control program that we call love food hate waste, as well as meatless Monday.

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:

Student volunteers recover food not used by students, which would otherwise be thrown away, from two dining halls (Blair-Shannon & Garst). This food is delivered to community agencies every Tuesday and Friday. During the process, the volunteers document the amount and type of food donated from each dining hall as well as food temperatures for safety concerns.

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:

Used cooking oil is donated and converted into fuel.

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:

Dining services composts all food waste through a program called Trim Trax. The dining halls have buckets in the kitchens were they put all of the pre-consumer waste such as onion peelings, celery roots etc. which are then put into the compost cans at the end of each shift. The material is picked up by an outside company 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:

Dining services composts all food waste. The trash cans out front and in the dish room have corn plastic liners. When customers dump food out front into the trashcan or send it back on the plate, it ends up in a can which is later taken outside and placed in larger composting holding cans outside. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the composting company picks up the bins from all the locations and delivers it to a composting facility.

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:

All dine in wares are washable and are washed in an Energy Star rated low water usage dish washer.

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:

All retail locations use compostable or recycled containers. Dining centers are also using compostable to go boxes.

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:

Our Starbucks locations and retail food locations provides discounts for bringing your own cup.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:

We have several wellness programs including BalancedU, our healthy lifestyles nutrition program, healthy work place reward and development program, and a monthly Super Foods highlight.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs 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.