Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 61.60
Liaison Megan Curtis-Murphy
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2023

STARS v2.2

Northeastern University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Megan Curtis-Murphy
Director of Campus Sustainability & Engagement
Climate Justice & Sustainability Hub
"---" 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 university installed and maintains mini herb gardens around the Boston campus that are available for any passerby to take from. In addition, Northeastern’s Slow Food student group organizes a Community Supported Agriculture program through local farms each year. This allows students to easily sign up for a CSA share to receive fresh fruits and vegetables and pick up the food on campus. The CSA is open to the entire Boston campus community.

https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/08/26/your-complete-guide-to-northeasterns-herb-gardens/

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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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:
NU Dining is committed to buying locally grown produce when available and in-season. The 2021-2022 school year is the 15th year of NU’s commitment to purchase items from regional and local small and mid-sized farms. “Eat Local” menus highlighting available local produce are displayed daily in the campus dining locations. As mentioned in sustainable procurement, the university also has goals around supplier diversity which are university wide and apply to NU Dining as well.

https://www.nudining.com/public/sustainability

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
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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:
NU Dining Services regularly hosts and publicizes sustainability related events. During Spring 2022, NU Dining hosted a GRATE.FUL event in celebration of Stop Food Waste Day. The event featured sustainability with plant-forward station takeovers while also collecting 500+ bags to be donated to create awareness and fight food insecurity. International Village and Levine Marketplace had a 4+ station takeover with a plant forward menu.

Local Harvest is another central theme especially during the New England fall, which offers apples, squash, carrots, beets, and other seasonal produce that is tied into themed foods like apple sauce, squash soup, and full locally harvested meals. The supporting educational materials in the dining halls and on the daily menu boards help to raise awareness about the NU Dining Services sustainability initiatives and the meals prepared as a part of those efforts.

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:
NU Dining provides a wide range of vegetarian and vegan options each day throughout all of its dining halls and campus retail locations. The Balanced U program provides clear signage and labeling for several types of food choices including Vegan, Vegetarian, Avoiding Gluten and Balanced.

The Delicious Without program is a designated station for guests dining with food allergies and sensitivities. Menu items prepared within the station are made without nine major food allergens – milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, seasame, wheat, and soy.

Soy and rice milk are also available from dedicated taps in specially marked refrigerated dispensers and almond, cashew and soy milk are available for retail purchase in the Market convenience store. Northeastern’s retail dining locations Tu Taco and Café Crossing, Sweet Tomatoes Neapolitan Pizza, UBurger, and Kigo Kitchen offer a variety of vegan and vegetarian options as well.

https://www.nudining.com/public/dietary-accommodations

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:
The dining halls publicize sustainability and local food sources in many ways. There is specific signage that overviews the NU Dining sustainability initiatives. Information is available to explain the "Menus of Change" program that integrate health, wellness, sustainability and local sourcing.

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:
NU Dining has a strong commitment to its food recovery program. It is comprehensive in that it includes the food preparation; continuous staff education; trayless dining; portion modifications; and careful monitoring of the relationship between meal planning, purchased materials, prepared meals, and consumed food.

NU Dining also partnered with the program “Imperfectly Delicious Produce” (IDP) which utilizes “non-retail” Grade A fruits and vegetables that have slight cosmetic imperfections. This produce is typically left un-harvested in the field or discarded from retail sale but is perfectly suitable for cooking. Cosmetically perfect produce is not essential for food service operations - our chefs slice and dice the produce so flavor and quality are most important. Some vegetables in this program are spinach, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, baby chard, and cauliflower.

https://www.nudining.com/public/intentionally-reducing-waste

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:
Trayless dining was implemented in 2017 in all dining halls on campus. Modified menus/ portions have been offered for many years, but increasingly publicized in recent years and complemented by signage around the dining halls and link moderated portion size to health and wellness, and the environmental impacts of food waste overall.

https://www.nudining.com/public/intentionally-reducing-waste

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:
Dining Services provides food donations using packaged foods that have not been open and, according to state Public Health laws, have not been sitting out.

https://www.nudining.com/public/intentionally-reducing-waste

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:
Northeastern recognizes the importance of composting for waste management. Facilities Waste & Recycling has collaborated for over a decade with Northeastern Dining Services to fully integrate composting and waste reduction in the main dining areas on the Boston Campus. In 2021, about 800 tons of food waste was composted.

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:
All new NU dining staff are trained in the pre-consumer food composting program, and ongoing training is regularly provided thereafter. There is extensive signage in all food preparation areas to support the streamlining of the food composting process.

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:
Since 2007, the University has provided food composting on the Boston campus. In addition to extensive signage to educate consumers in what, and how to correctly compost, NU Dining had special compost bins made for use in the dining halls. The university contracts with CERO, a worker-owned co-op based in Dorchester which is local to the university. The University works closely with CERO on continuous improvement and data management to ensure a comprehensive and successful composting program on campus.

The student group, CANU (Composting at Northeastern University), regularly tables in the dining halls and other locations on campus to educate about the correct way to compost on campus and the overall importance of it.

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 residential dining halls and other NU Dining kiosks offer a full complement of reusable service ware.

https://www.nudining.com/public/intentionally-reducing-waste

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:
The university recently started using Ozzi containers for “to-go” meals in the dining halls. Ozzi are reusable to-go containers promoting sustainability and the added flexibility to take your meal to go.

https://www.nudining.com/public/ozzi-containers

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:
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Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
NU Dining offers multiple programs that address learning/research about sustainable food systems. Xhibition Kitchen offers year-round events where special guest chefs talk about sustainability and food, farming, plant-based, and vegan recipes/cooking. There are also specific programs as part of the Menus of Change Collaborative that includes NU Dining, and regional collaborations such as Red's Best Seafood, that offer hands-on experiences for students to conduct research on - and experience the initiative's framework for change and sustainability.

https://www.nudining.com/public/menus-of-change

Northeastern University Dining was also honored to receive a New England Food Vision Prize from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the environmental, economic, and health impacts of food choices. The goal is to use the purchasing power of institutions to build regional agricultural resilience and to influence the hearts and minds of consumers. The Kendall Foundation awarded a $250,000 grant to each of the top five submissions. Northeastern, along with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Eastern Connecticut State University, were collectively awarded $500,000 (from two different grants) to collaborate on solutions designed to support use of more regionally produced foods.

https://www.nudining.com/public/kendall-foundation

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://NUdining.com/Public/Sustainability

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Green_Plan_2021-2022.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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