| Overall Rating | Platinum |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 86.83 |
| Liaison | Mark Lichtenstein |
| Submission Date | Feb. 28, 2023 |
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Sue
Fassler Sustainable Facilities Manager Facilities |
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?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Horticulture Therapy Program
- A rooftop space transformed into an outdoor garden at the Syracuse VA Medical Center by ESF has been impacting the lives of veterans for 10 years. The Therapeutic Horticulture Rooftop Garden program at the Syracuse VA Medical Center uses the connection between nature and health to benefit veterans. The Therapeutic Horticulture Rooftop Garden program revived an existing outdoor area over the Medical Center's Regional Spinal Cord Disorder Center into a welcoming gathering space for veteran patients and family members. The garden and gardening-related activities help improve the health and well-being of VA patients, including their psychological outlook. For 10 years, ESF faculty and students have donated their time and expertise to help patients grow and maintain their gardens.
https://www.va.gov/syracuse-health-care/news-releases/syracuse-va-medical-center-honors-suny-college-of-environmental-science-and-forestry/
(https://www.waer.org/2022-09-14/hospital-rooftop-garden-makes-syracuse-veteran-feel-at-home)
- ESF also partners with Clear Path 4 Veterans to help grow food for events. The gardens are used to supplement Clear Path's culinary programs, specifically, the Wednesday Canteen which provides lunch to veterans and their families; Warrior Reset on weekends; and the Red White and Blue Barbecue. During COVID-19 lockdowns, the gardens were maintained, and harvested produce and herbs were given to veterans and volunteers. Additional harvest was sent to the Syracuse VA Medical Center's Recreational Therapy staff for use in their programs with in-patient veterans.
Farm Day at Salt City Market's Farm
- ESF students were encouraged to participate in an October 2021 post harvest gleaning event at Salt City Farm in Kirkville, NY (https://esf.campuslabs.com/engage/event/7534550)
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
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?:
A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Ranger School Dining
- Local sourcing: Ranger School has been purchasing fresh produce, eggs, and other locally produced agricultural products from the North Star Food Hub. Unfortunately the food hub ceased operations in late 2022, but plans to reopen during the Spring of 2023.
Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- The Trailhead Cafe offers vegetarian and vegan options every day of the week, both as part of its set and special/rotating menus. Information about the Cafe's zero waste programs can be found below.
Ranger School Dining
- The Ranger School provides vegetarian and vegan options at every meal and serves other dietary needs and requests (e.g. gluten free, diary free, etc.). All Ranger School meals are served on plates/bowls, with flatware and cups/glasses. All dishware is returned to the kitchen after every meal to be washed and re-used. Ranger School uses reusable takeout trays and takeout cups with lids for "to-go" meal and drink needs. These reusable items are returned to the dish window at any time to be washed and reused.
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?:
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- The Trailhead Cafe offers vegetarian and vegan options every day of the week, both as part of its set and special/rotating menus
Ranger School Dining
-The Ranger School provides vegetarian and vegan options at every meal, as well as serves other dietary needs and requests (e.g. gluten free, diary free, etc.).
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- Dine in durable dinnerware return is co-located with "waste" station, which features trash, recycling and compost streams. This station includes large signage for each material stream, complete with a display of the actual items that belong in each bin.
- Signage explaining the Cafe's reusable container program. Heavy duty instructional stickers also included on reusable containers themselves.
- Menu depicts vegan/vegetarian items with icons
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?:
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
ESF participates in the Campus Race to Zero Waste competition every year. The Trailhead Cafe (Syracuse campus) composts pre and post consumer food materials. This data is included in the competition each year. In Fall 2022, large trash, recycling and compost bins were added to the catering kitchen, to encourage proper sorting of discarded materials. As a standard practice, the Trailhead Cafe minimizes food waste by cooking meals based upon orders and does not bulk prepare large quantities of food that may be wasted. Two large 64-gallon compost totes are located in the Cafe's trash room and are emptied three days a week by a private hauler, along with the rest of the campus compost. The College grounds crew weighs every tote on campus during the first three weeks of every semester. These weights are used find an average weight per tote, which is then used to estimate weight for the rest of the semester, based upon volume and frequency of pickup.
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?:
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
The Trailhead Cafe serves food in reusable cups, bowls and containers when customers opt to "eat in". Food is not self serve, and portions are controlled by Trailhead employees. As of the start of the Fall 2023 semester, all "dine out" meals requiring a clamshell or soup cup will be served in a reusable container. Compostable containers will be used as a backup option, but the Cafe hopes to maximize use of reusable containers to the greatest extent possible.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
A brief description of the food donation program:
- ESF students participate in the joint Food Recovery Network club with Syracuse University students (https://syracuse.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/the-food-recovery-network-at-esf-su) (https://www.instagram.com/frn_su_esf/?hl=en)
- It is very rare that Cafe/dining operations at the Syracuse campus produce excess food that would otherwise go to waste. If waste does occur food is donated to students and student employees.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- Two large 64-gallon compost totes are located in the Cafe's trash room and are emptied three days a week by a private hauler, along with the rest of the campus compost. Cafe staff collect pre-consumer compost scaps during food prep and bring them to the trash room. The College grounds crew weighs every tote on campus during the first three weeks of every semester. These weights are used find an average weight per tote, which is then used to estimate weight for the rest of the semester, based upon volume and frequency of pickup. Compost is either brought to County compost facility or a regional digestor.
Newcomb Campus Dining Center
- Pre and post consumer food scraps have been historically collected and composted at a home based system by the Associate Director for a number of years. During December 2022, the Newcomb campus was awarded a drum composter through a competitive process. This compost system will be installed in 2023 and will not only serve the ESF campus, but the larger Newcomb community.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- Dine in durable dinnerware return is co-located with "waste" station, which features trash, recycling and compost streams. This station includes large signage for each material stream, complete with a display of the actual items that belong in each bin.
Newcomb Campus Dining Center
- Same as above
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- Reusable service ware is used exclusively for dine in meals. This includes plates, cups, bowls, trays, baskets and anything else needed to serve food.
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)?:
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- As of the beginning of the Fall 2023 semester, the Cafe launched a full scale reusable container program. Each member of the campus community is allowed an allocation of any combination of three reusable clamshells and lidded soup cups, available on an as needed basis at the register. Customers who use these reusable containers for to go orders will return them to the Cafe for washing. If container loss becomes a problem, any outstanding container balance held by customers during the Fall 2023 semester will result in a fee being charged to repurchase the containers. During the Spring 2023 semester, campus community members with a container balance will receive targeted reminders to return their containers to the Cafe.
Container usage and balance is tied to ESF ID cards for tracking purposes. If a member of the campus community exhausts their allocation of containers, they will have the option to purchase a compostable clamshell or soup cup for $.75 and $.50 respectively. Customers that are not members of the campus community will be assessed these fees for use of compostable materials upon placing a to-go order. The Cafe has piloted reusable container programs in the past, but on a voluntary basis. This relaunch of the program is the first that sets reusable containers as the standard "to go" service ware option, as opposed to compostable containers. This reimagined program was informed, in part, based upon a survey that was created jointly by the Office of Sustainability and a group of students through a class project to gauge campus receptivity to a more robust reusable container program on campus.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnr3MEwO1tu/?hl=en
Ranger School Dining
- Uses reusable lidded to go cups for field work. Cups are returned to the dining center for washing.
Newcomb Campus
- Uses reusable clamshells for to-go orders, which are returned to the dining center for washing. By way of example, the Newcomb Campus hosted the DEC's Ranger Academy throughout Fall 2022. During this time, 2,849 lunch meals were served in reusable to go containers. This eliminated lunch bags, sandwich bas and plastic utensils for these meals.
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:
Trailhead Cafe - Syracuse Campus
- At the start of the Spring 2023 semester the Cafe began charging $0.50 for compostable soup containers and $0.75 for compostable clamshells. These fees will help to incentivize members of the campus community to return reusable containers for washing and will educate customers to the fact that ESF most heavily prioritizes the use of reusable containers over all single use options, even those that are compostable.
A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
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.