Rowan University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
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Reporter |
Shante
Walker Institutional Research Analyst Office of Institutional Research & Analytics |
Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives
Local community engagement
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Rowan University’s campus is a site for Fresh For All, an initiative spearheaded by Philabundance to bring fruits and vegetables to communities. Students and community members can pick up fresh produce at no cost every Friday from 9:30am-10:30am in Parking Lot D on Rowan’s Glassboro campus. In the event of bad weather, please call 856-244-1166 to see if the market will be open.
Rowan students and local residents wishing to utilize the market do not need to show identification but will need to bring their own bags or boxes.
The market is a partnership that includes The Shop, the Student Government Association and the Office of Volunteerism & Community Engagement. Volunteers at the market will include Glassboro community members and Rowan students, staff, faculty and administrators.
Sustainability-themed outlet
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
The SHOP is Rowan University's first ever on-campus food pantry and resource center available to students in need. With a particular focus on addressing issues of food insecurity, The SHOP offers a range of free and confidential support services that can connect students with appropriate campus and community resources.
Utilizing the West Campus Farm, students and employees help plant more than 2,000 seedlings that will yield produce including peppers, tomatoes, squash, melons and more. Each season's harvest provides fresh fruit and vegetables for Rowan's food pantry and community organizations, as well as Houshmand's Hazardous Hot Sauce, which raises funds for student emergency scholarships.
Inclusive and local sourcing
A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
How we eat affects our planet. The average food item has traveled approximately 1,500 miles to our plates, consuming a great deal of energy. Along the way, nutrients and flavor are lost during transport.
By supporting local farms, we support farmers and the local economy. Nutrients are more likely to be preserved when purchasing fresh and local ingredients. We source ingredients from local (within 250 miles) and regional (within 400 miles) sources as a first choice, to support small and mid-sized American family farms. Our chefs choose local produce as a first choice, always.
In addition to the food and beverage vendors listed below, Rowan partners with over 175 local companies for other goods to support our community.
- Ambrogi Food Distribution
- Bakemark USA
- Bonesaw Brewing Co
- Chickies & Petes
- Cream-O-Land
- Duffields Farm Market
- Gourmet Kitchen
- Hershey Creamery Co
- Hops & Grapes
- Jack & Jill
- Landmark Americana/Liquor
- Liscios Bakery
- Lorenzo
- Mack the Ice Man
- Driscoll Foods
- Performance Food Group
- Philly Pretzel Factory
- Pocono Profoods
- Prime (DRC Glassboro LLC)
- Rockland Bakery
- Ry's Bagels
- Samuels and Sons Seafood Co
- Seashore Fruit & Produce
- Sushi Do LLC
- Swiss Chalet Fine Food
- Sysco
- US Foodservice Inc
- Valenzano Winery
- William Heritage Winery
- York Street Caterers Inc
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:
Gourmet Dining has hosted events such as Meatless Mondays to promote plant forward dining (OP-8-8) AYCTE Dining Hall has a plant based station daily
Vegan dining program
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Students, faculty, and community members interested in navigating vegan, vegetarian, or balanced menu options on the Rowan campus can filter all available menus by selecting the appropriate filter on the Dine On Campus site. Dine on Campus has icons to help you easily identify these menu options across various locations.
Menu items categorized by VG- Vegan (Contains no animal-based ingredients or by-products), V - Vegetarian (Contains no meat, poultry, fish or seafood but may contain eggs or dairy), PR- Protein (A good source of protein), Globe - Climate Friendly (This icon recognizes recipes with low greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Our recipes that achieve the Climate Friendly attribute have agricultural and ingredient processing impacts that are lower than 70% of all products assessed by HowGood).
Labelling and signage
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Gourmet Dining promotes #meatlessmondays by providing students with information about the differences between Plant-based vs Plant-Forward meals as well as the Plant-Forward benefits.
The "Navigating Food Allergies + Special Diets on Campus" is an allergen management guide provided to students. On page 14, "Dietary icons on campus" define the signage used to identify Vegan, Vegetarian, Good Source of Protein, Climate Friendly and Avoiding Gluten meal 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:
Gourmet Dining at Rowan University has made the following commitment publicly:
For more than a decade Gourmet Dining, a division of Compass Group, has strived to make positive change within the realm of sustainability by supporting local economies, sourcing sustainable seafood, implementing measures to address climate change issues and much more. Our sustainability story has established Gourmet as an important contributor towards a more sustainable future and as a model for what is possible within the realm of the food service industry.
We are proud of our past contributions and are committed to continue building on them. We establish specific milestones. We seek to create change where we can have the greatest impact. We pledge to the utmost public transparency, allowing us to manage our progress and adjust our path as needed. Our Vision is our long term aspiration that is anchored in a roadmap to realization.
We are stepping up to challenges of the future and we are not looking back.
While we look to the future, we are replanting and reconnecting with our food system in a collective effort to create the change we need through food. In its current state, the food system is the leading cause of climate change. We are working hard to change that system by leveraging our scale to be more socially and environmentally responsible, continuing our push for transparency, and creating a culture of change. There is more work to do--and we are committed to doing the right thing for both people and the planet.
With how challenging this year has been, it has given us hope and shown us that anything is possible when we work together. As one collective community, WE have the power to make a difference.
We focus on reducing single-use plastics where applicable.
We are constantly exploring, evaluating, and introducing more and more environmentally safe products.
We have implemented a Waste Not program to train our staff in methods to minimalize the overproduction of foods and monitor our waste.
We use local partnerships primarily before outsourcing to broad-line distributors.
We have been reducing our overall water consumption with warewashing.
We are recycling leftover oils & waste to be repurposed.
Trayless dining and portion modifications
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
Rowan University has been trayless since 2014
Food donation
A brief description of the food donation program:
Rowan Food Recovery Network is a service-oriented club focused on reducing campus food waste and regional food insecurity through recovering wholesome food from Rowan's campus and distributing it to community partners in need.
Food materials diversion
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Composting
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting 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:
Dine-in service ware
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Take-away materials
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
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:
Fall 2024 converted all packaging and disposable service ware for catering & retail branded concepts to sustainable / compostable products
Optional Fields
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.