Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.39
Liaison Sam Lubow
Submission Date June 29, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Stanford University
SD-2: Food Education

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete N/A Jiffy Vermylen
Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainability & Energy Management / Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Are students educated in an academic class about how to make eco-positive food choices?:
Yes

Provide a brief description:

There are more than 20 courses taught on campus that relate to the food system in the context of its environmental and social impacts, including Earth Systems 11si, “Grow It, Cook It, Eat It”. This course is explicitly designed to educate students about their food choices by exploring all aspects of the food system in a hands-on, practical manner.


Are students educated in dining facilities about how to make eco-positive food choices?:
Yes

Provide a brief description:

Bi-weekly table-top newsletters, sneeze-guard signs and icons, posters, social media, peer-to-peer, overt and stealth interventions, and other communication channels are regularly used to educate, inform, and influence students about their food choices in the dining halls.


Are students educated during orientation about how to make eco-positive food choices?:
Yes

Provide a brief description:

Every incoming freshman and transfer student attends a zero-waste box lunch. Each lunch box contains information with respect to making sustainable food choices. Resident Assistants and Dining Ambassadors in freshman residence halls, as well as and New Student Orientation staff, are trained on how to make sustainable food choices with the expectation that they communicate such decisions to incoming students and support their choices.


Are students educated in other venues about how to make eco-positive food choices?:
Yes

Provide a brief description:

Stanford Dining’s Sustainable Food Program manages an extensive student internship program in which students are employed to work on strategic sustainable food initiatives. This provides real-world experience in working on various aspects of sustainable food in the context of business management.

For more information, please visit the following website:
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/cgi-bin/drupal/dining/sustainable-food-program


Is there a program by which students are encouraged to and/or taught how to grow their own food?:
Yes

Provide a brief description of the program:

Students may take Earth Systems 180b “Principles of Sustainable Agriculture”, which is taught on the Stanford Educational Farm. This class provides education to students on how to grow food. Many volunteer opportunities are also available on the Farm in which students gain practical skills in growing food. Each of 8 dining halls has an organic kitchen garden, which are used to grow food from which other things are made, including sauerkraut from cabbage, beer from barley and hops, and bread from wheat. Workshops on these skills are regularly taught through the Farm to Fork program, which is a collaborative effort between Stanford Dining’s Sustainable Food Program and the student-led Stanford Farm Project.


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.