| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 62.98 |
| Liaison | Briar Schoon |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2021 |
Portland Community College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Stephania
Fregosi Sustainability Analyst Facilities Management Services |
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?:
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, mid-April - October.
Due to COVID-19, the farm stand is currently closed; however, product from the garden continues to be harvested and distributed to food pantries in the area.
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:
Seasonal produce from the Rock Creek Learning is integrated into many aspects of dining services. While the Farm House Cafe at the Rock Creek campus explicitly features seasonal produce from the learning garden, seasonal produce is also featured as much as possible in catering. In addition, some types of produce, like zucchini & basil are made into products (zucchini bread, pesto) that are distributed district wide.
Due to COVID-19, dining services is closed.
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?:
A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
PCC is frequently able to work with small and medium-sized businesses to provide local food, although we work with a large number of larger locally based businesses as well.
These include local farms like A&J Orchards, small and medium businesses like Camellia Grove Kombucha, Trazza Fine Lebanese Foods, and Portland Roasting Coffee and businesses that have grown in to Pacific Northwest staples like Franz Bread, Darigold.
Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
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.
In the fall of 2019, dining services collaborated with ASPCC and local businesses to host an sampling event for student leadership that featured many of local businesses that are featured in PCC's dining halls. Students were given lunch and offered opportunities to taste many many meatless options, non-traditional drinks (kombucha & non-dairy replacements), and local produce.
Regular menu options offer meatless options, from veggie patties.
Nearly all sustainability office sponsored events are vegetarian only. The catering department works regularly with us to experiment with everything from jack-fruit to deep-fried tofu coconut curry.
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:
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.
The grab-and-go area of dining services regularly features vegan options from Snackriledge, whose yummy options range from the Lord of the Wings (Tangy Seitan Steak with Blue Cheese and Sweet n’Spicy Rainbow (in the dark) Slaw), to the Pig Champion (A smokey cheezy pulled pork(less) sandwich with house-made smoky cheddar and house-made In League with Seitan bourbon BBQ poor’k with fresh Rainbow in the Dark Slaw, on Portland French Bakery Ciabatta).
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Meatless Monday is emphasized as well as the vegan and vegetarian options available everyday.
In conjunction with the sustainable foods / student tasting event, signs featuring sustainable, vegetarian, vegan, and low-cost dining options were added to all of our dining halls.
In addition, webpages and emails from dining services display vegan and vegetarian 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:
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.
The staff routinely creates production records and uses them regularly to determine demand. For example, if they make three sandwiches for the cafe and only two sell that day, then the next day they make two. There is very little food waste.
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:
Very few trays are not available in our dinning halls.
We also offer half portions for items where it makes sense. PCC dining services reports that over time the portion sizes have dropped in order to maintain accessible pricing for our students. PCC has no all-you-can-eat dining options. Everything is pay as you go and the salad bars are all self-serve and pay by weight, which provides less of an incentive to over portion. Recently the sandwich bars at both Rock Creek and Sylvania campuses were converted to pay by weight also.
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:
Dining Services donates unused food to the campus food pantries, which are open to all students at each campus. The learning gardens also contribute produce to the food pantries.
During COVID-19 any excess ordered food due to the uncertainties surrounding reopening and closure has been donated to rescue missions, local food pantries and St. Vincent De Paul for distribution in the community. This is also advertised to our students, staff, and faculty.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses?:
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.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
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?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Some post-consumer compost is sorted and used in a vermiculture composting system. We also participate in the City of Portland's compost program which accepts the remainder of the post-consumer food waste.
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:
We maintain "mug boards" at each campus to ensure that there is a reusable, free mug for hot beverages available to all customers. There are also ways to donate mugs to the mug board and these come from both individuals and programs who have over ordered campus swag.
We have a reusable to-go container system at both the Rock Creek Campus and the Sylvania Campus which allows anyone to use re-usable dinning ware for dine in or to-go.
Catering recently implemented a new program that uses "Preserve" 100% recycled, reusable service ware in all catering. Signage is also put out indicating that these items are to be put into tubs rather than disposed of.
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:
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 instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
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.
We distribute tokens annually to students in need for use of the OZZI to go vending system.
A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
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.
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.