| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.32 |
| Liaison | Emma Parsley |
| Submission Date | Dec. 12, 2022 |
Texas State University, San Marcos
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
James
Vollrath Director Office of Sustainability |
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:
Texas State Dining hosts a farmers market two to three times a year during the university's Market Days event in the Quad.
Texas State Dining hosts an Oktoberfest event with local produce and baked goods from local bakeries.
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:
During our Earth Day event in the spring the office of sustainability joined us and educated our guests with fun facts about sustainability including the energy practices within agriculture, statistics on food waste & food loss, and the importance of eating local. We have also had Bobcat Blend and Bobcat Buzz come and talk about their efforts at our dining halls.
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:
Texas State Dining support vendors and suppliers who are minority owned, Sushi Subcontractor, Produce company, Bakery, Smallwares, and Temporary Staffing agencies.
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:
Throughout the year and highlighted on Earth Day, Texas State Dining promotes vegetarian and plant-based dishes in the dining halls and highlights the intensive nature meat-based diets have on the environment.
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:
Yes. Each food station in dining halls have vegan entrée, sides, and dessert for a complete meal.
In addition to that, all Non-national Retail Brand has vegan entrée options.
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:
On all of out PIDs, Digital menu boards, and on our Dine on Campus site we call out food items with our balanced you icons (avoiding gluten, vegetarian, vegan and balanced). We also just implemented HowGood rating system which is found on the PIDs, digital menus and the website. These icons call out foods that are good, better and best than other foods and how they relate to reducing our carbon foot print.
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:
Our dining services partners with Food Recovery Network to distribute unused food that is unsold to low-income communities at the end of each week. All of our internal retail concepts and our resident dining facilities participate in Waste Not, a food waste reduction and prevention program conducted in each respective kitchen. Partnership with on campus Bobcat Blend-compostable program.
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:
Our entire campus is trayless. We also only purchase and use Styrofoam free or compostable packaging in our internal retail concepts.
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:
We donate food to Bobcat Bounty, student run Food Recovery Network and also to the Hays County Food Bank.
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:
Our dining services regularly purchases produce identified as Imperfectly Delicious Produce from our produce supplier. Imperfectly Delicious Produce is a program that utilizes non 'retail' Grade A fruits and vegetables that have slight cosmetic imperfections. This produce is typically left unharvested in the field or discarded but it would be perfectly suitable for cooking. Cosmetically perfect produce is not essential for food service operations. Our chefs slice and dice the produce so flavor and quality are most important. Through the program, we engage with our distributors and farmers to identify opportunities to rescue product from going to waste. We also utilize Restaurant Technologies to convert used cooking oil to biodiesel.
Texas State Dining has partnered with OZZI containers as a method to diverting single use containers from ending up in the landfill.
Texas State Dining uses RTI for oil waste to be recycled into biodiesel.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Our dining services partners with an on-campus student organization called Bobcat Blend, which collects all of our organic food waste from our dining halls and converts it into compost. Bobcat Blend is an award-winning student education and composting operation at Texas State University Department of Agriculture. The project combines food waste and cardboard from campus dining halls, paper packaging materials, and invasive plant species gathered from the San Marcos River. Composting bins are located in dining areas near the waste bins. Serving as a model program for sustainable practices and organic farming, "Bobcat Blend" emphasizes education through lectures, tours, and volunteer opportunities.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Our dining services partners with an on-campus student organization called Bobcat Blend, which collects all of our organic food waste from our dining halls and converts it into compost. Bobcat Blend is an award-winning student education and composting operation at Texas State University Department of Agriculture. The project combines food waste and cardboard from campus dining halls, paper packaging materials, and invasive plant species gathered from the San Marcos River. Composting bins are located in dining areas near the waste bins. Serving as a model program for sustainable practices and organic farming, "Bobcat Blend" emphasizes education through lectures, tours, and volunteer opportunities.
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:
We recently started using the OZZI O2GO program where we eliminated single use containers from our dining halls.
https://dineoncampus.com/txstate/dining-halls-eco-togo-boxes
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:
We also offer an Eco-To Go Container OZZI in Commons Dining Hall for students who want to take their meal to go.
All other campus dining locations provide compostable to-go boxes.
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:
The incentive of using our reusable container not only reduces the carbon footprint for Bobcats on campus, it is also economically feasible for campus community members. Campus members pay a one time fee of $6 for the OZZI to-go box and can exchange for a new clean box once they return the original container. Members get a token with the exchange program.
A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
Bobcat Bounty is a food distribution program on campus that hands out free food to low-income students and community members every Thursday. The program is run in conjunction with the Hays County Food Bank.
We purchase from Imperfectly Delicious Foods - These produce items are not cosmetically perfect but are still perfect for our recipes so we purchase these so they do not go to waste. We also purchase produce from the Student Sustainable Farm.
Serving seafood that comes from sustainable sources
Promoting certified humane cage-free shell eggs
Purchasing poultry produced without the routine use of human antibiotics
Providing milk and fresh yogurt that is free of artificial growth hormones
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:
Info provided by Chartwells Dining - Texas State's dining hall contractor.
Info provided by Chartwells Dining - Texas State's dining hall contractor.
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.