Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.92
Liaison Caitlin Steele
Submission Date June 8, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

San Francisco State University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Nick Kordesch
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Sodexo, San Francisco State's primary dining services contractor, has a program called "The Better Tomorrow Plan" which is their plan for a better sustainable future. The Better Tomorrow Plan has four main priorities including developing and promoting diversity, promoting nutrition, health and wellness, supporting our local communities, and protecting and restoring our environments.

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:
SF State Dining occasionally sources food from the Sol Patch, a student operated vegetable garden. The garden receives technical and financial support from SF State's Grounds shop. SF State Dining has also used on-campus herbs for decor and garnishes. SF State's Vista Room, it's restaurant and catering teaching laboratory, maintains an on-campus herb garden that produces ingredients.

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:
San Francisco State holds a weekly farmers market on campus as well as being involved with the Food Recovery Network. The Food Recovery Network is a local non-profit that takes left over food and distributes it to local food banks.

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:
The Blue Onion Station in the student dining center serves a combination of 4 total dishes that are vegetarian and vegan options. There is also a salad bar where students can customize their salads to be vegetarian or vegan.

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:
Sodexo hosts a Green Monday event every month to promote less meat consumption. This campaign asks students to pledge to eat vegetarian or vegan once a day during the week. A tabling team recruits students to sign a physical pledge that is then posted onto the dining center walls. An additional vegetarian or vegan option is served at every single one of our 4 other stations to provide a greater range of vegan and vegetarian options.

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:
Sodexo has hosted an event titled Keep it in the Neighborhood. The overall goal of this event was to bring awareness to the benefits of eating locally. This event focused on the particular neighborhood, Fisherman's Wharf, in San Francisco. The menu was designed to reflect the ingredients and dishes that are locally available in the featured neighborhood. All ingredients used for the evening's dinner were sourced locally.

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:
Sodexo hosts an annual Farm to Fork Event out in the quad of San Francisco State University. This lunch provides students, staff, and faculty with a vegetarian and vegan menu with all ingredients that are sourced locally.

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:
Sodexo utilizes posters and tv screens to promote sustainability practices throughout its dining halls. Sodexo displays the Green Monday pledges for students to serve as a reminder eat one vegetarian meal per week. Sodexo also hangs zero waste signage to remind students of SF State’s and Sodexo’s goals of achieving zero waste by 2020.

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:
Sodexo hosts several events such as Green Mondays and Weigh the Waste Wars. The goal of the Green Monday events is to promote less meat consumption. We ask our students to pledge to our Green Monday Campaign by engaging and educating our students on environmental impacts of meat consumption. Our Weigh the Waste Wars event engages our students by weighing the food waste of all individuals. During this event we educate students on the importance of reducing one’s food waste by grabbing less portions.

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:
Sodexo incorporates the Mindful program throughout the Dining Center. The Mindful program focuses on providing students with healthy dishes that incorporate balance, moderation, and variety. The Daily Dish Station serves a Mindful dish at every meal. Sodexo also focuses on providing students with a culturally diverse foods. Teppan Eats is one of our five stations that is dedicated to serving Asian influenced cuisine.

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:
Sodexo is hosting 6 Weigh the Waste Wars Events throughout the Fall Semester. For 1 hour, the food waste of students are placed into a clear container during the lunch or dinner meal period. This serves as a visual to bring awareness to food waste and to also encourage students to limit food portions.

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:
Sodexo does not utilize any trays in an effort to reduce food waste. It uses the phrase "eat what you can" instead of "all you can eat."

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:
Sodexo has donated to the Food Recovery Network. The Food Recovery Network is an organization that collects and transports donated foods to local food banks that are in need. Sodexo is also currently in the works of donating to an on campus food pantry as well as setting up a meal swipe donation program. SF State collects donates food from the dining hall. Residential students can donate non-perishable food.

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:
San Francisco Public Utility Commission's SF Greasecycle program diverts fats, oils, and grease away from the sewers and recycles it into biodiesel. San Francisco State collects over 18,000 pounds of grease from kitchens each year.

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:
Sodexo uses the three bin system throughout its kitchen. Compost bins are made available to every kitchen with bins made available at every station. The compost in these bins is then transferred to the larger compost bin out in the dock.

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 compost collected throughout the entire Dining Center is collected by San Francisco’s Recology Department. The compost is then transported to Jepsen Prairie Organics in Vacaville.

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:
Sodexo only utilizes reusable plates are that dish washer safe in the City Eats Dining Center

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:
Bricks Pizza utilizes compostable plates for the pizza served to students.

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:
SF State cafes offer discounts of 15 to 25 cents for using reusable cups. They also have educational signage at all cafes encouraging use of reusables.

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:
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Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://sfstate.sodexomyway.com/planet/local.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://us.sodexonet.com/home/our-company/what-we-stand-for/our-better-tomorrow-plan.html

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.