Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.66
Liaison Eric Boles
Submission Date March 5, 2021
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Arkansas
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Kim Johnson
coordinator for community affairs
Chartwells
"---" 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:
The University of Arkansas and Chartwells have six important categories in their Sustainability policy. Those being; Composting, Purchasing Sustainable Seafood, Recycling, Razorback Food Recovery, Food Waste, and Freight Farms. Every year Chartwell's looks to improve their ways to be more sustainable and reevaluate their work to make sure that all of the categories are being persuaded at their full potential.

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:
University Housing and Chartwells(Dining Halls on Campus) serves sustainable produce on campus thanks to the Universities' own Freight Farm. Freight Farm is a fully functional hydroponic farm built inside of an up-cycled shipping container. Being in a shipping container paired with LED technology and energy-efficient equipment, the produce can be harvested year-round. The produce that Freight Farms produces never leaves the campus and is directly distributed to two dining locations on campus, which are both 'Where the Wild Green's AR' dining options around 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:
The Fayetteville Farmers Market, founded in 1973, commits to fresh and locally grown produce from the North-West part of Arkansas. Located in the downtown square of Fayetteville, the market consists of locally produced vegetables, fruits, flowers, meats, baked goods and more. The market occurs on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, depending on the time of year.

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:
Vegan foods are offered in each of the food courts and food items are labeled by attribute. The Green Table - free of all 8 major allergens

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:
Chartwell's Greentable partakes in Meatless Monday's at all of the Dining Halls.

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:
On Earth Day, Chartwells is participated by having an interactive experience where students can make their own coffee scrubs with the 'pre-brewed' coffee grounds from Hill Coffee Co. Also occupying the month of April, Chartwells is corroborating with VAC (Volunteering Action Center) for Stop Food Waste Day. Chartwell's will also be collecting data on Stop Food Waste Day to use as a motivator for students to be more sustainable in the future.

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:
Where the Wild Greens AR, run by Chartwell's, is a restaurant in the University Union that is sourced by the University's very own Freight Farm. Where the Wild Greens AR provides primarily vegetarian and vegan dishes accompanied by healthy smoothies.

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:
Chartwell's has signage classified as PID's, which identifies the consumer what the food is, what it is made out of, whether or not it is vegan, vegetarian, or gluten. Also, the signage has a balanced category, which educates the consumer if the food is limited in calories, fat, saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium.

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:
Chartwell's has a section on its website which educates students on wellness & sustainability option that they provide. Additionally, there are nutrition links, which educates anyone who wishes to learn about sustainable food in more depth. Chartwell's has a partnership with the RSO SAFE and continues to try and connect with students around campus through trial clean-ups and other events. https://www.dineoncampus.com/razorbacks/nutrition-links

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:
Chartwell's has a health system that is called Balanced U, which helps consumers identify what they are eating. It labels the meals that are also looked over by the dietitians and chefs. Chartwell's also supports a wellness program called FYUL. Developed by and for students, FYUL's initiative is to help bring foods that delicious and functional. FYUL's purpose is identifying foods that are appealing to Generation Z and make let support their lifestyle by sufficing their needs. Those needs being; Immunity Boost, Sustained Energy, Improved Clarity, Protein-Packed, Recovery and more.

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:
Since 2014, the university dining facilities have had "Project Clean Plate." This program aims to educate students on food waste over a five-week period. They place signage in all dining halls and measure food waste. Additionally, the dining facilities have back of the kitchen composting. The composting number increases each year.

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:
Tray-less dining is now the only option at all five food courts on campus. This had dramatic cost and waste savings.

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:
Razorback Food Recovery collects and donates unused food to the NWA Food Pantry and local nonprofits.

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:
The composting program in the dining halls pulps the material and it is contracted through the city of Fayetteville.

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 of the food from the dining halls that is not consumed is first donated to the Razorback Food Recovery program. If there still is leftover food, then the food goes to the food waste composting pilot that was started in the Spring of 2016. The pilot accounts for the majority of food waste on campus. Also, there is composting in the back of the kitchen in all dining facilities for pre-consumer food.

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:
All of the dining halls partnered with the City for a food waste composting pilot which was established in the Spring of 2016.

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:
The dining facilities made the switch from trays to plates a few years ago in order to reduce food waste. All plates are ceramic and silverware is metal. The napkins are also compostable.

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:
Some of the national vendors in the dining facility in the student union and other food locations have compostable containers. The Office for Sustainability is currently trying to start a reusable container program with the dining facilities. Customers also get discounts at many of the coffee shops for bringing reusable cups (national and local vendors).

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:
The university offers discounts to people who bring their own cup to the following coffee places: Arsagas (local) and Starbucks.

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:
In spring 2019, the Office for Sustainability employees worked with the dining facilities to reduce packaging waste in the student union from national vendor chains. The employee wrote a proposal for this and passed it through the student government and the dining facilities complied with the majority of the cost-saving proposals. Namely, Pei Wei and True Burger reduced plastic at their University of Arkansas locations. As of right now, the city of Fayetteville just placed a ban on polystyrene. The Office for Sustainability employees intends to try and implement this ban at the university by continuing to work with dining services to reduce waste.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://www.dineoncampus.com/razorbacks/sustainability

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
- https://news.uark.edu/articles/23346/project-clean-plate-educates-students-in-dining-halls-about-managing-food-waste http://www.uatrav.com/news/article_b21fbf3e-55bd-11e9-9ee1-cf838db72251.html Discuss with jrervin@uark.edu, ameek@uark.edu, mstout@uark.edu create new responsible party

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