Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.26
Liaison Chris Bond
Submission Date March 22, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Unity Environmental University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Stacey Hachey
Administrative Assistant
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1: Sustainable Dining Initiatives 

Sustainable Dining Policy

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
A tiered approach highlighting local community based purchasing cafted in lines with the Real Food Challenge guidelines

On-Campus Sourcing 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
Yes

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Our dining services works with our on campus farm to help plan what produce can be grown on campus and then subsequently served on campus.

Local Community Engagement 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, and/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:
Our dining services works with our on campus farm to help plan what produce can be grown on campus and then subsequently served on campus.

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:
The institution provides complete-protein vegan dining options for every meal, and soy, almond, oat and rice milk are always available. Vegan desserts are also provided daily.

Low-Impact Dining Events 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events:
In the Fall, Unity hosts a hyper local harvest dinner with a large percentage of the food coming from the campus farm or local farmers in the surrounding county which cuts down on emissions from transportation and celebrates foods that can be produced locally.

Sustainability-Themed Meals 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
In the Fall, Unity hosts a hyper local harvest dinner with a large percentage of the food coming from the campus farm or local farmers in the surrounding county.

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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Labeling and Signage 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labeling and signage in dining halls?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
Dining Services labels Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten-Free foods in our cafe/to-go dining outlet and has labels for Vegan, Vegetarian, Local, Gluten-Free, and "McKay Grown" (our on campus farm) to let diners in our all-you-care-to-eat facility.

Outreach and Education 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
Dining Services tries to bring in local vendors to campus to do education events about sustainability in their operations and to feature items with their products. This past Earth Week, The Humane society came and demonstrated plant forward foods in conjunction with dining as well as a nut milk company came in to do education and samples on campus.

Other Initiatives 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have other sustainability-related initiatives (e.g. health and wellness initiatives, making culturally diverse options available)?:
Yes

A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
We have a Mongolian grill that features different cultural foods each day and also have various meals throughout the year that highlight culturally diverse options. Dining also did a weekly catch of the day featuring sustainably caught fish

Part 2: Food and Dining Waste 

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:
We track food waste diverted to anaerobic digestion by tracking volume and calculating weight from volume. We also hold competitions in our dining facilities to see which employees can reduce their pre-consumer food waste the most in a given time period.

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:
No trays are used in Unity College's dining facilities.

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:
Produce from our farm that is too "ugly" to be sold to dining services is given to our Office of Student Success for students to take and use for free. Our farms fields are also gleaned and those products are donated to the local food bank. A program is also in place to offer leftover food from catered events to students on campus, feeding hungry students and preventing food from going to waste.

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 (e.g. converting cooking oil to fuel, on-site anaerobic digestion)?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Our used-cooking oil is picked up to be converted into bio-diesel and all of our organics produced in our dining facilities and at catered events are collected, picked up and taken to a local anaerobic digestion facility.

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:
All pre-consumer food waste is collected with other organics to be anaerobically digested.

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

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Post-consumer food is collected at the waste stations in both dining facilities to be anaerobically digested.

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:
Our service ware is metal and is washed and re-used and reusable, durable plastic plates, bowls and cups are used and washed as well.

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:
Both dining facilities on campus utilize a green to-go container program for students who want to take their meal to go in Both our AYCTE and our Student Center. All of our plastic cups, coffee cups, and to-go utensils used by all of dining are certified BPI-compostable.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Anyone who brings a reusable container to the Student Center or the AYCTE facility is given a $0.25 discount on fountain sodas or coffee.

Other Materials Management Initiatives 

Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented other materials management initiatives to minimize waste not covered above (e.g. working with vendors and other entities to reduce waste from food packaging)?:
Yes

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
Portion control to eliminate waste in serving areas is done through employee training and plates that indicate proper serving sizes are made available for consumers.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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