Pomona College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
Alexis
Reyes Assistant Director of Sustainability Facilities & Campus Services |
Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives
Local community engagement
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
The Pomona College Organic Farm has bi-monthly Farm Stands with fresh produce and baked goods. The Farm also has garden plots available for campus and community members, and supplies herbs to a cafe at Pitzer College, one of our adjacent campuses.
Sustainability-themed outlet
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
Inclusive and local sourcing
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
A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
The Frank and Frary dining halls host a "Farm to Frank" and "Farm to Frary" themed dinners each year, which serve food sourced from within a 200-mile radius. These meals also do not have beef or pork, and feature vegan/vegetarian options and highlight the impacts of sustainable dining options.
Vegan Fest is an event hosted each year by Frank dining hall. The meal features all vegan recipes and is designed to expose more people to vegan meals, and show how delicious and nutritious plant-based meals can be.
Vegan dining program
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
There are always a variety of vegan options offered daily at each meal, estimated to be about six options at every lunch and dinner at at least three options at breakfast. Depending on the meal, there are vegan options available in the salad bar, pizza bar, sandwich bar, cereal bar, and/or hot entree station. There are often vegan options in the soup bar, pasta bar, and daily exhibition. A designated vegan/vegetarian station in Frary dining hall provides main entree options at each lunch and dinner meal period.
Labelling and signage
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
The dining halls label all vegetarian, vegan, organic, gluten-free foods. Signs are posted throughout the dining hall promoting Fair Trade, organic, and wellness options.
Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery
Food recovery program
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Dining Services uses cameras above serving lines to track how much of different dishes are taken. These cameras feed data reports, which are used to inform the quantities of different dishes to prepare in order to avoid over-production.
Trayless dining and portion modifications
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
Pomona College eliminated the use of trays in dining halls beginning in Fall 2009. The change was made for all dining halls in the five Claremont Colleges. A small-scale food waste audit suggested that going trayless may reduce food waste by around 20 pounds per meal in each dining hall, and by about 10% overall. Students are encouraged to compost their vegan food scraps, which are then weighed and used at the organic farm on campus. PEAR (Pomona for Environmental Action and Responsibility) hosts Compost Day annually, giving out cookies to those who compost leftover vegan food scraps.
Food donation
A brief description of the food donation program:
The Food Rescue program, started in 2007, donates approximately 400 meals per week to feed local homeless people. A group of 15 students picks up prepared but unserved food from the dining halls and delivers it to local shelters every night during the school year. In 2009, the program received a $10,000 grant for expenses and to help begin similar programs at other college campuses. Food Rescue diverted approximately 5 tons of what would have been food waste in 2013-2014.
Food materials diversion
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
All of our frying oil is collected by a company that converts it to biofuel.
Composting
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Pomona's dining halls compost non-meat and non-dairy pre-consumer waste, which is transported to the campus Organic Farm for composting.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Students can compost post-consumer wastes in the dining halls by scraping all food waste nto bins by the dish return. There are also post-consumer food waste bins outside the dining hall, into which students and employees can place any compostable waste generated in the dining halls, residence halls, or office spaces.
Dine-in service ware
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
All "dine-in" meals are served on reusable service wear. Disposable service ware is only used in the event of broken dishwashing equipment.
Take-away materials
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
To-go containers are BPI-certified fiber-based containers, but are unfortunately not accepted in the compost stream by the campus' waste hauler. To-go silverware is wooden, and is accepted in the compost stream.
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
The Coop Fountain, run by the Associated Student of Pomona College, offers refills of coffee, tea, and soda for $1 if students bring their own reusuable mug or cup.
Dining Services provides reusable to-go clamshells and thermoses for a small refundable deposit. Students exchange used reusable containers for a clean one upon entry to the dining hall, where the containers are cleaned with other dishes. The campus cafe, Coop Fountain, also accepts reusable to-go containers and mugs for exchange.
Optional Fields
The staff nutritionist is available for personal consultations. Pomona College recently launched a chapter of Weight Watchers on campus.
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.