Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 47.16
Liaison Ryan Chabot
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Central Florida
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.55 / 2.00 Yara Watson Colon
Sustainability Specialist II
Sustainability Initiatives
"---" 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:
UCF has a community-supported agriculture program through the UCF Arboretum where student volunteers and interns grow organic produce in an organic community garden. The produce harvested is used for educational cooking demonstrations and events, but is largely donated to the Knights Helping Knights Pantry where students in need can access free resources.

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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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?:
No

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
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Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
0

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:
Dining Services does not currently host a Meatless Monday event. However, they do offer diverse daily meatless offerings at both dining halls. Dining Services hosted the Vegan Showcase with Chef Johnny Rivers that featured plant-based options.

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:
Dining Services offers vegan entrees and offerings daily in both of our dining halls, including but not limited to soy tofu, soy-based chicken strips and beef crumble, plant-based black bean slider patties, and lentil and mushroom meatballs. The majority of our pasta is vegan, and we also offer vegan pizza dough and vegan cheese. We offer vegan desserts.

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:
The Just4U nutrition highlights program uses brightly-colored, leaf-shaped messages on dining hall food options to signify those with fewer calories, less fat, vegetarian or vegan choices, or whole-grain selections.

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:
Dining Services utilizes a proprietary production reporting system called LeanPath, which tracks waste generation and reduces pre-consumer waste via forecasting tools.

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:
Dining Services has been trayless since 2009 to minimize food waste, conserve energy and water, and reduce the number of cleaning chemicals entering the waste stream.

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:
The Arboretum donates all unconsumed, harvested produce and herbs to Knights Helping Knights pantry daily. This facility is open to all students free of charge. Day-old Einsteins Bagels are donated to dining hall facilities.

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?:
No

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
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Composting 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
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Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
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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:
Dining Services uses reusable service ware for dine-in meals to minimize food waste, conserve energy and water, and reduce the number of cleaning chemicals entering the waste stream.

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:
Dining Services provides one complimentary reusable to-go containers to every meal plan member. Members may bring their used to-go containers to either ’63 South or Knightro’s throughout the duration of the agreement to exchange for a clean to-go box. The dining member must return the to-go container at the end of the membership agreement to the UCF Dining Services Office. If a to-go container is deemed unusable due to loss or damage, a $15.00 fee will be charged to the Member’s myUCF account.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Many dining service locations provide discounts to customers who bring their own cups. For example, Aramark coffee shop locations offer $0.99 coffee refills for reusable mugs 7 days a week, all day. Starbucks also offers discounts to customers who bring their own mugs.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
Wellness and Health Promotion Services and the UCF Arboretum make up a FreshU Initiative. FreshU offers workshops, cooking demonstrations, cooking classes, and other hands-on educational experiences to increase accessibility to fresh food on campus.

Cooking Demonstration: Our nutrition coordinator teaches students how to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diets and reduce food waste. Students will get to see the process, taste the dish, and take home a recipe card so they can try making it themselves later.

Cooking Classes: Like our cooking demos, students will get to taste the dish and take the recipe home, but this time they will also get to experience cooking! Students are broken up into cooking stations, each containing all the necessary tools to complete the dish. We believe hands-on experiences allow students to learn and practice the techniques used to apply them later.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://ucf.campusdish.com/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.