Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.96
Liaison Briar Schoon
Submission Date June 30, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Portland Community College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Stephania Fregosi
Sustainability Analyst
Academic Affairs
"---" 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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
---

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:
Rock Creek's learning garden and food forest grows greens, fruit, berries, potatoes, and more for the cafeteria and "Portlandia Farmstandia" on-campus farmer's market stand. Food scraps are composted in a closed loop from cafe to vermiculture composting system and back at the garden. The Sylvania Learning Garden is a cooperative campus space dedicated to organic gardening. The garden serves as a "Living Laboratory" to allow individuals and groups to teach and learn through organic gardening. Produce is donated to the campus canteen, a free food pantry for students in need.

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:
Portlandia FarmStandia is a one stop shop for the large variety of produce grown in the Rock Creek campus Learning Garden using organic principles and practices. All produce is harvested the morning-of-sale for maximum freshness. Open each Tuesday 11:30am-3pm, April - October.

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:
We make a strong effort to offer vegan options at all of our campus food services, including our smallest campus. Our most popular vegan items are produced by a local companies Higher Taste and Snackrilege who produce a variety of vegan bagels, wraps and burritos with high nutritional value. Our dining services offer Shoofly, local vegan pastry and desserts.

Low-Impact Dining Events 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events:
Meatless Monday Kickoff educates students, staff, and faculty about how reducing the amount of meat you eat can can be tasty and beneficial to the planet. This is a collaboration between Student Leadership (ASPCC) and Food Services.

Sustainability-Themed Meals 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
Each year during Earth Week, Meatless Monday is extended for the whole week. The meals offered during the 2017 Eco Social Justice workshop were entirely vegan, highlighting the many plant based dining options to student leaders, staff, and faculty participants and highlighting the social justice connections to food.

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:
The Farm House Cafe at Rock Creek campus features seasonal produce from the Learning Garden.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
"Are You Vegucated" education campaign is featured in dinning halls across the district. The signage reports on the reduced environmental impact of a plant based diet. Meatless Monday is emphasized as well as the vegan and vegetarian options available everyday.

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:
Through our Bee Campus and Apiary program students learn about current threats to bees and other pollinators as well as their critical roll in food production. A recent class analyzed the honey produced on campus to identify what type of pollen the bees are gathering. Many students volunteer in the Learning Gardens, and for-credit organic gardening classes are offered. Tips and resources for organic gardening are hosted on our website as well as information about native pollinators. A local K-8 school brings young students to the garden for hands-on learning experiences and programming. The wood fired cob ovens at Sylvania and Rock Creek Learning Gardens offer classes and committees the opportunity to gather for sustainable food based celebrations. Dining Services also posts informational signage regarding meat consumption and sustainable offerings.

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:
PCC uses pedal power as a health initiative and to reduce GHG emissions while maintaining our sustainable food systems. The Rock Creek campus currently has two Fender Blender Bikes. These stationary bikes have blenders attached to the front that churn when the wheels are in motion. The bike also has a Pedal Power Utility Box, which allows you to generate power to play music while you spin. We use a trike to move buckets of compost from the cafeteria to a compost staging room. The compost is weighed and then added to the worm bin where it becomes food for red wriggler worms. The large metal basket on the back of the trike was constructed by the Rock Creek Welding program. During the growing season, we use a bike trailer to move supplies and produce from the Learning Garden to the farm stand and cafeteria.

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:
Any food that has not been eaten and meets the state of Oregon's health standards for food donations are donated to the campus food canteens to promote student food security. The canteens have fridges and freezers, so they are able to freeze perishable items when necessary. Any food waste is composted either on-site at our learning gardens or through the City of Portland's compost program.

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:
Trays are not available in our dinning halls.

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 donates unused food to the on-campus Food Recovery Club and student food canteens which are open to all students at each campus. At Cascade, the student canteen even collects unused food from a local business to feed students. The learning gardens also contribute produce to the canteens.

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:
Pre and post-consumer composting is done both on-site and picked up by trash haulers for compost and/or biogas. Cooking oils are picked up for recycling.

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:
At two of our campuses, we currently use kitchen food waste in our vermicomposting systems. The other two compost pre-consumer food scraps through the City's program.

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:
Some post-consumer compost is sorted and used in a vermiculture composting system or sent to the insinkerator that pulps food waste to be used for mulch or in the worm farm. We also participate in the City of Portland's compost program which accepts the rest of the post-consumer food waste.

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:
We maintain Mug boards at each campus ensuring that there is a reusable, free mug for hot beverages. We have a reusable to-go container system at Rock Creek Campus allowing anyone to use re-usable dinning ware for dine in or to-go. Catering is piloting a new program with "Preserve" 100% recycled, reusable service ware.

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:
Our facilities offer third party certified compostable to-go boxes, silverware and cups.

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:
We offer a 25 cent discount for anyone who uses a reusable mug. We also have a 'mug board' with free clean mugs for customers to use and receive the discount. We have an automated reusable to-go container system.

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)?:
No

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
---

Optional Fields 

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

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.