Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 69.05
Liaison Katherine Spector
Submission Date March 3, 2023

STARS v2.2

State University of New York at Oswego
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.68 / 2.00 Tamara Cunningham
Purchasing Manager
Auxiliary Services
"---" 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?:
No

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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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:
We work with a local Produce supplier that is a WBE and employees less than 20 employees and is our second largest vendor for food purchases.

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
20

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:
As part of our eating healthy program, we promote a vegan/ vegetarian based menu entrée at every meal with the intent of helping students eat less animal protein. We also promote students to take advantage of Meatless Mondays. We also follow the American Heart Association for protein portions.

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:
A wide variety of menu items are featured at every meal including entrees, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, vegetarian/vegan foods, homemade and vegetarian soups, beverages, and desserts made fresh in our on-campus bake shop.

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:
Dining Services promotes low impact choices as part of its Meatless Monday campaign as well as through Healthy eating programs sponsored by our Registered Dietitian. Also, we label each menu items (Vegan, Vegetarian, Halal, Gluten Free Friendly and Heart Healthy) All food items are labeled on signs in locations and online.

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:
While not a formal subscription program such as LeanPath or EPA Food Waste Challenge, we have for 10 years diverted all fresh made retail food products to a local food pantry. In 2019, we added the recently added student food pantry to this distribution. In addition, we work with our location Salvation Army to recover any perishable items left at end of semesters or breaks to support our community. Unfortunately, there are no licensed pantries that can participate in a food recovery program in our region due to lack of food storage and approved transportation.

As for food waste we have our own internal food waste tracking documents where we track all food produced by our dining services. These tools tie into our production planning and allow to effectively plan for our needs.

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?:
No

A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
While there is nothing formal, our students are given the option to use or not to us a tray in our Dining and Retail locations.

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:
SUNY Oswego’s Campus Catering will help with any catering need, from full-scale wedding to simple beverage break, that the college or private party may have. They offer a wide variety of menus, provide an experienced staff of waiters/waitresses and service several locations around the city of Oswego. Campus Catering gives back to the community by donating their extra food to the Salvation Army Food Drive at the end of each catered event. The retail dining locations donate all foods left from retail dining locations that are fresh made and packaged for sale to the local Salvation Army food pantry as well as to the on campus Food Pantry.

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:
All waste cooking oil is reclaimed/repurposed by Baker Commodities.

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:
Each Dining Center has compost bins in which they collect pre-consumer compost. This is collected by our disposal company a couple time a week at each location to be taken to the compost site.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Not fully at this time. Although, we have recently done two large outdoor and one indoor event completely compostable.

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 dining services uses full complement of all reusable service ware in all residential dining centers. China, Glass and Silver.

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:
We purchase hinged fiber to go containers made from sugar cane. All of our plates, bowls, hinged containers, and cups are compostable.

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 available for those who use reusable mugs at all retail outlets.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
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Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
http://catalog.oswego.edu/content.php?catoid=1&navoid=10

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.