Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.79
Liaison Chad King
Submission Date June 9, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Denver
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Chad King
Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainbility
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

The Center for Sustainability hosts a fruit CSA from Ela Family Fruit Farm in Hotchkiss, CO and a food box program through the GrowHaus in North Denver.


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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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?:
Yes

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:

The University has worked with the Denver Anchor Network and the Center for Community Wealth Building to prepare 10 local, women and minority owned caterers to become venders on campus. A tasting event was hosted for those who plan events, and the Graduate School of Social Work committed to only using these caterers for their events.


Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
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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 halls have worked with the national menu options to feature plant based meals.


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:

Every day we offer a vegan and vegetarian bar in the dining halls that changes in not only offerings but in ethnic background. We also have some sort of vegetarian and vegan option at our outlet stores.


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:

Signage on local sourcing and food waste are displayed in dining halls.


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:

Sodexo utilizes Lean Path to track food waste at every step of food preparation.


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:

We are trayless across campus.


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 student run Food Recovery Network collects prepared food several times a week that that isn't served and delivers it to a local mission.


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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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:

We participate in pre-consumer food waste composting in both resident dining halls, Nagel Hall and the Ritchie Center. During the food preparation, our team is careful to discard compostable items in labeled bins in the back-of the-house food preparation areas.


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:

We participate in post-consumer food waste composting in both of the resident dining halls on campus. After finishing their meal, dining hall patrons discard compostable items in clearly labeled bins.


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:

All dining halls (not cafes), have reusable service ware.


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:

All non-franchised cafes on campus provide compostable products for containers that contain food, and recyclable to-go materials for containers that contain drinks. These can be composted and recycled at the cafes or in numerous buildings across campus.


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:

Small discounts are available to those using reusable mugs for beverages at to-go food service operations.


A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
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Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
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.