University of Georgia
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

UGA Dining Services collaborates with UGArden Teaching and Demonstration Farm to source fresh herbs from the student-run campus farm. Campus Catering sources produce, grains, and dairy products from the Athens Farmers Market and directly from local farms for specialty catering events including the bi-annual Semester in Review event hosted at the end of each semester.

There are vegetarian and vegan dining options available daily in every dining commons at UGA. Each dining commons features a vegetation hot line. Vegan and meatless items are labeled on printed menus, the online menu, digital signage, and point of presentation menu tags. To ensure complete-protein vegan options are available all day to customers, quinoa, whole grain breads and bagels, peanut butter, nuts and seeds, and calcium fortified soy milk are served daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at all units. Available at lunch and dinner at the salad bar are 3 types of beans, made-from-scratch hummus of the day, tofu, and edamame. Available during lunch and dinner at the vegetarian hot line are the bean of the day, fresh steamed vegetable of the day, vegan entrée (which differs at lunch and dinner), brown rice, vegan burgers, and vegan dogs. On the UGA Dining Services website, daily menus for each dining commons can be viewed; each vegan option is marked with a yellow "V" logo.

Campus dining halls labels buffet lines to denote dishes that are made with GA-Grown products, Vegan, Vegetarian, as well as Gluten-free and other dietary restrictions. Signage displays in dining halls depict Dining Services sustainability initiatives. Nutrition Education Stations within each dining commons provide nutrition brochures, recipe cards, and nutrition posters created by our Registered Dietitian. iPads at these stations enable students to look up nutrition and allergen information for every recipe offered on our menu. Our nutrition team also writes biweekly tabletop announcements to keep students informed of the latest news about everything from food trends to healthy tips and hosts nutrition events in the dining commons throughout the semester.

Dining Services host a sustainability intern in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability during the academic school year to help promote a sustainable, thriving , learning environment; i.e. researching trayless dining. Signage displays in dining halls depict Dining Services sustainability initiatives.

Kosher and halal meal options were added to the UGA Meal Plan last academic school year (2015-2016). These items are available to students upon request and increased in request this school year. Authentic Indian dishes were tested and then featured at a special event in the dining commons in March 2017. Dining Services partnered with the UGA Indian Student Association for this event so that many educational activities were available to students. Not only was the event very well received by students, but many of the menu items are being added to the rotational menu for fall 2017. Our department is currently developing a suitability-wellness initiative on portion control and food waste. This project will kick-off August 2017 and includes educational portion control decals for serving lines, educational posters and table tents on food waste, and educational tabling within the dining commons. The project is being led by our Registered Dietitian in coordination with our Senior Public Relations Coordinator and Sustainability Student Clerical who was previously an intern with the UGA Sustainability Department.

Dining Services uses a menu management software, FoodPro by Aurora Systems that tracks production and mitigates waste by forecasting usage based on history.

After studying the impact of trayless dining, UGA Dining Services took a big step to reduce waste by removing trays from their five dining commons. The department worked with the UGA Office of Sustainability to collect data during a two-week test period. Snelling Dining Commons was set as the control. During the test’s first week, trays were provided in Snelling as normal. The plate waste that came through the tray return was measured by volume and weight. During the second week, trays were removed from Snelling and the same measurements were obtained. The water meter was also monitored to see how water usage would be affected with no trays to wash. The results showed a 26.7 percent reduction in plate waste and a 16.4 percent reduction in water usage during the week without trays. Some of the many benefits of trayless dining include reducing waste, conserving water, and saving energy.

Dining Services is also a major contributor to both the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and Full Plate. The Food Bank recovers donated and salvaged surplus food and distributes it to human-service agencies. Full Plate distribute prepared food to local charities that operate emergency shelters, food pantries, after-school programs and soup kitchens in the Athens area.

Dining Services composts all organic materials from all campus dining halls in partnership with UGA Facilities Management Division. Non-biodegradeable products like individual condiment packets, tea bags with paper tags attached by metal staple, and plastic straws have been replaced with more sustainable options like reusable bulk condiment stations, 100% silk tea bags, and bio-degradeable paper straws. This allows 100% of food waste in the dining commons is being pulped and sent to the UGA Bioconversion Center where it is composted and reused on campus. Used cooking oil is recycled via annual contract and has been used to create biodiesel through partnership with a local business.

Currently all pre-consumer food waste from UGA dining halls is collected and taken to the UGA Bioconversion Center where it is composted and turned into soil which is then reused on campus and in school and community gardens.

All organic waste leaving campus dining halls is composted at the UGA Bioconversion Center. The program diverts approximately 10,000 pounds of organic waste from the local landfill each week. The program is a partnership with UGA Dining Services and UGA Facilities Management Division. In addition, post-consumer organics composting is offered in UGA departmental break rooms. This program is managed by interns in the Office of Sustainability. Compost collection is completed using an electric bicycle and trailer and incorporated into pulped waste from dining halls for delivery to the Bioconversion Center.

UGA dining commons use permanent dishes, glassware, and flatware, eliminating the need for disposable products.

UGA Dining Services is launching a reusable take-away meal container program for meal plan participants in Spring 2018.

Customers can bring in their own mug for coffee and receive a discount. Furthermore, EcoProducts are purchased for disposables like coffee cups and clamshell containers that are compostable.

UGA Dining Services takes environmental sustainability very seriously and advocates the concepts of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in all campus food services operations. Dining Services has been a long time campus advocate of these concepts. Dining Services was recognized with the 2003 Community Champion award for its support feeding the homeless in the community. Some of our other initiatives are: Reduce Our dining commons use pulper systems to drastically reduce the volume of paper and food waste sent to local landfills. The use of these systems also dramatically reduces water usage in trash disposal systems. We consolidate the majority of our deliveries to a central food storage facility, which reduces delivery truck traffic on campus. Napkins are placed on tables instead of at silverware stations. Since implementing this practice we estimate napkin consumption on campus has reduced by 50% We purchase products with minimum packing (ex. pouched vs. canned products) Installing timers on lighting. Specifying energy efficient replacement equipment. Use of energy efficient lighting. Use of electric hand dryers in lieu of paper towels in public restrooms. Reduction of water use - Example: We have annually reduced water use at Snelling Dining Commons by 38.9%. Reduction of plastic waste in the community with "Hydration Stations" for refilling water bottles. Dining Services reduced its water usage in 2008 by 2.05 million gallons of water through conservation efforts. Since then, we have maintained this sustainable practice Dining Services promotes sustainability by purchasing regional produce and food products when available. Reuse Our dining commons use permanent dishes, glassware, and flatware, eliminating the need for disposable products. Dining Services is also a major contributor to both the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and Full Plate. The Food Bank recovers donated and salvaged surplus food and distributes it to human-service agencies. Full Plate distribute prepared food to local charities that operate emergency shelters, food pantries, after-school programs and soup kitchens in the Athens area. Recycle In all of our facilities, we recycle our office supplies, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal cans. New employees are taught the procedures and value of recycling. Bins for recycling cardboard, newspapers, plastic, and aluminum are provided in many of our facilities. All used cooking oil is sent off to be recycled. We recycle all of our ink jet and toner cartridges. We purchase office paper with a minimum 30% recycled content. Providing on campus collection sites for recycling cardboard, newspapers, plastic and aluminum. Eco-friendly disposable service ware is used in our retail food courts.