| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 56.45 |
| Liaison | Bambi Ingram |
| Submission Date | Feb. 7, 2020 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Alabama at Birmingham
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.75 / 2.00 |
Julie
Price Sustainability Coordinator Sustainability |
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Our primary dining services contractor is Sodexo, which serves all campus and research units.
Sodexo's Sustainability Commitments: https://us.sodexo.com/our-impact/sustainability.html
Sodexo also has a Better Tomorrow 2025 https://www.your-sodexo.com/my-company/better-tomorrow-2025/
Our local Sodexo website (UAB Campus Dining) also features sustainability commitments: https://www.uab.edu/students/dining/planet
A recent news article on Campus Dining's sustainability efforts: https://www.uab.edu/studentaffairs/news/student-experience/503-5-uab-sustainability-food-and-dining-initiatives-including-replacing-250-000-plastic-straws-in-2-1-2-months
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
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?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Once per quarter UAB Campus Dining hosts a Fresh Market on the Campus Green with area farmers and cooking demos. https://calendar.uab.edu/event/fresh_market#.XUCKmuhKg2w
UAB Medicine: UAB Medicine, in partnership with UAB Wellness, offers a seasonal farm stand for staff and visitors of UAB. The Stand is located in the main lobby of UAB's largest clinic and is open on Mondays, TUesdays, and Fridays from 10am
to 2pm. https://www.uab.edu/humanresources/home/wellness/healthy-eating/farmstand
Food, Nutrition, and Guest Services of UAB Medicine offers a farmer's market every Friday from May to September in the North Pavilion first floor hospital. The farmers are all Alabama-based.
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:
At least one vegan option is available at every meal at locations available to every member of the campus community.
At the Sodexo/Campus Dining locations, diners can use the Dietary Guide to understand labels on food options as well as the Bite App and online Menus to plan for best dining options at each meal.
Dietary Guide: https://www.uab.edu/students/dining/images/health/UAB_Dietary_Guide_WEB.pdf
Menus and Bite App download: https://www.uab.edu/students/dining/locations-hours
UAB Medicine has vegan dining options for catering, in-room patient meals, and our hospital dining food court. All dining partners (subway, au bon pain, etc) are also required to have vegan dining options.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events:
UAB Campus Dining encourages students to participate in “Meatless Monday”, emphasizing the health and environmental importance of cutting consumption of meats like beef, pork, and chicken. On Mondays, the main dining line ("Classics" line) in the largest dining facility highlights vegetarian and plant-based proteins and offers no animal products.
UAB Medicine offers meatless options on every line of the main hospital food court every day.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
UAB Medicine dining has a partnership with a prominent local chef, Frank Stitt, that includes a special seasonal menu available to all hospital patients. The ingredients for the seasonal menu are sourced from Frank Stitt's preferred local farms, and then menu features language about local and healthy meals.
https://www.uabmedicine.org/-/what-will-i-eat-when-i-am-a-patient-at-uab-hospital-
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 inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labeling and signage in dining halls?:
A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
Signage reflects the content on this page regarding Meatless Monday, vegan/vegetarian options, etc.
In addition, rotating signage features local farm sources of produce from week to week, identifies Fair Trade certified options, Sustainable Seafood, etc.
Labels on all serving areas reflect the Dietary Guide. https://www.uab.edu/students/dining/images/health/UAB_Dietary_Guide_WEB.pdf
UAB Medicine catering menu and table signage includes designations for low-impact, meatless, sustainable options.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
UAB partners with Jones Valley Teaching (urban ag project) farm for student service projects related to sustainable food systems, nutrition, etc. Examples of courses that have volunteered at Jones Valley include BY101 and ENV108.
The UAB School of Public Health also uses plots at the UAB Community Gardens to demonstrate growth and harvest techniques. GHS 320-Global Health Service Learning GHS 303-Food Security and Nutrition.
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)?:
A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
UAB Campus Dining has Simple Servings and Mindful to help with allergen and ingredient transparency, portion sizes, etc.
https://www.uab.edu/students/dining/health
More info about Mindful: UAB Campus Dining places a high priority on creating healthy environments for our customers. So if you’re looking for healthy food that tastes great, look no further than Mindful! Mindful focuses on transparency of ingredients, delicious food, satisfying portions, and clarity in message so that making Mindful choices becomes second nature. You’ll know it's Mindful when you see the green apple heart icon on the Bite menu and in our dining hall. Mindful is all about providing choice - the choice to make healthier selections, the choice to learn about food, the choice to start living a healthier lifestyle.
UAB Medicine has a daily special in main dining facility that is Heart Healthy. It is priced lower than other meal options to entice diners. The selections are approved by an on-site dietician.
Vending machines in the hsopital have water, juices, and diet beverages priced 25 cents lower than regular soda.
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:
UAB Campus Restaurants use the LeanPath system to reduce food waste:
LeanPath is a supplier that helps UAB track and measure its food waste through the use of a food waste measurement tool. It is an automated food waste tracking system that is used at The Commons on the Green. The LeanPath program offers a unique learning opportunity to raise awareness about manageable steps that we can all take toward a more sustainable food system. We collect and weigh any pre-consumer waster, this is any food that we have control over from leftovers, overproduction, trimming, catering, ect. LeanPath automatically captures date, time, and estimated value of the waste and reports this data back to UAB Campus Restaurants. LeanPath’s automated system goes far beyond what you can accomplish with pen and paper, providing the simplicity and detail you need to maximize waste reduction.
UAB Medicine tracks all food services through CBORD, which includes data about food waste overages.
Recently, UAB Medicine switched to hotel-style room service for patients, so food is only requested when wanted. This reduced patient food waste more than 75%.
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 main dining facility, the UAB Commons, is trayless and portions are mindful.
UAB Medicine's locations are also trayless.
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:
UAB Dining collects the foods that are still healthy and edible and donates the food to Firehouse Shelter, a nearby shelter for men experiencing homelessness.
Nearly out of date packaged foods and sundries go to the Blazer kitchen at Hill Student Center, UAB's on-campus food pantry for staff and students experiencing food insecurity.
UAB Medicine sends excess food to Magic City Harvest. Excess food is rare, but sometimes comes from main hospital dining facility or from catering.
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)?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Used cooking oil is given away to be converted into bio-diesel.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
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:
Reusable service ware is used in the main campus dining hall, UAB Commons.
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:
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Starbucks and UAB Campus Restaurants discount beverages 10 cents if a reusable container is provided.
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)?:
A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.