Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.74
Liaison Kristyn Achilich
Submission Date May 11, 2021

STARS v2.2

Saint Michael's College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Kristyn Achilich
Director and Instructor
Center for the Environment; Education
"---" 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:
100% Sustaniable seafood purchases certified by MSC .org
The college's Center for the Environment and the SMC Farm host a membership-based CSA for community members, and also a "market" with additional produce grown on the Farm, throughout the growing season. In addition, we have an internal process through which produce from the Farm can be distributed to students who may be food insecure. And, each week when there is unsold produce, the SMC Farm contributes the excess to the Intervale food bank for community distribution.

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:
Ground beef program through Black River meats utilizing Cull Dairy cows

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
2

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:
We offer meatless Mondays. It is not mandatory as we do serve meat on Mondays but offer the option to go meatless on Mondays.

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:
There are complete protein vegetarian meals available at both the dining hall and other areas such as the grill on campus, at all meals.

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:
Sodexo provides labels indicating local and fair trade products. Students are working with Sodexo and the VT First Coordinator to increase the labels in the dining hall as well as the level of detail.

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:
Wasteless powered by Leanpath

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:
We are serving smaller portions at all stations. We reduced the size of the pans at the stir fry station so the cooks can't over portion. Trays have also been taken away for the past 5 years (but are available if students ask for them).

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:
Donate food to Chittenden emergency food shelf monthly and more during school shutdown periods

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:
Our used cooking oil is reclaimed and converted to Bio fuel. Also 20% of our compost is given to farmers as animal feed.

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:
The facilities department picks up all pre-consumer food scraps to be incorporated into the college's compost site on campus.

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:
The facilities department picks up all post-consumer food scraps (from the dining hall and other food retail outlets on campus) to be incorporated into the college's compost site on campus. However, since COVID restrictions have been in place, if students use compostable take-out containers to take out food from the dining commons, they place them in large compost bins located near residence halls and in outside eating areas on campus. These bins are collected through our contract with Casella Waste, for composting in their commercial facility.

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:
The main dining hall utilizes china and reusable utensils; catering also offers this choice for customers/events.

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:
Sodexo offers only compostable containers at cafes, like the Grill and Cafe Cheray,as well as for students who take out food from the dining commons (since COVID restrictions have been in place) - anywhere where takeout is an option.
Also all catered events use 100% compostable products unless it is on china.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Discounts are offered for people that bring a reusable mug to the on-campus coffee shop or to Cafe Cheray.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
The dining hall hosts various events to promote health and wellness. In addition to providing detailed nutrition facts and labeling foods as gluten free, vegetarian, etc. The dining hall brings in several nutritionists for Q and A sessions about once a year. The dining hall also strives to make culturally diverse options available, by allowing students, including international students to submit recommendations on a board outside of the dining hall or even recipes online. Even without this student-led input, various stations each day often have food that ranges from Italian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Vietnamese, and so on. Recently partnered with Restaurant Technologies for a reduced plastics and cardboard associated with the delivery of our cooking oil.

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

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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