Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	66.57
Liaison	Rebecca Collins
Submission Date	Dec. 14, 2023

STARS v2.2

Temple University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	1.75 / 2.00	Rebecca Collins Director of Sustainability Office of Sustainability

"---" 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:

The student run Temple Community Garden provides free vegetables grown in the garden on Friday afternoons. Additionally, produce provided by Sharing Excess, a non-profit organization, is also distributed at Temple Community Garden.

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:

Freshens, a healthy, fast casual restaurant, offers prepared to order food inspired by fresh ingredients and authentic flavors. A staple of the menu is a meatless protein. The university also leases a space to Honey Grow, a locally sourced café on campus.

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:

Aramark reports all local (250 miles) products sold by Independent Businesses and Farms.

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

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:

The Resident dining program has options for the vegan and vegetarian population on campus. The residential dining locations have stations dedicated to vegan/vegetarian options. Besides the Resident dining program, a range of vegan options are offered in other retail dining facilities.

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:

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:

In addition to stations in residential dining facilities, online menus for both dining and catering indicate if a item is vegan, vegetarian, a low carbon meal, or is plant forward.

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:

Aramark is committed to food waste prevention and tracks all waste in a food waste tracking system.

Read more about their corporate commitment here: https://www.aramark.com/environmental-social-governance/climate-impact/minimize-food-waste

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:

Trays have been removed from all dining facilities on campus. The dining services provider uses strict portion sizing when serving.

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:

In partnership with Temple Cherry Pantry and Student Activities, a Slack channel was launched to communicate to students the location of surplus catering from events.

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/temple-slack-channel-fights-campus-hunger/

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:

The university contracts with Waste Oil Recyclers to manage its cooking oil in all of its large scale dining facilities. The university also utilizes bio-digesters digesters in the Student Center, Morgan Hall, and Johnson and Hardwick Residence Hall Dining.

Composting

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:

Pre-consumer waste is captured in the biodigesters - not composted

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:

Post consumer food waste is captured in J&H and Morgan Hall, but it is not composted.

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:

Residents Hall dining locations have reusable service ware. Fast casual does not have an option for reusable service ware.

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:

Temple launched a reusable to-go container program in FY 23. Students could purchase a container and swap it out for a clean one the next time they took a meal to-go in Morgan Hall Dining. Reusable containers are not provided in fast casual Aramark managed retailers.

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:

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Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:

University students, staff and faculty can meet with a nutritionist six times per year for free. The university nutritionist also leads guided tours through Fresh Grocer, the local grocery store, to teach students how to shop for healthy food on a budget.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Updated as of FY23

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.