Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	72.78
Liaison	Troy Goodnough
Submission Date	Feb. 10, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Minnesota, Morris
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.00 / 2.00	Troy Goodnough Sustainability Director Office of Sustainability

"---" 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:

UMN Morris is a lead organizing partner of the Morris Area Farmers Market. We also host a Farmers Market located on campus every year.

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?:

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?:

Yes

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

UMN Morris/Sodexo purchases from socially-disadvantaged businesses.

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:

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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:

Mindful Mondays -- a program to consider eating more sustainably and healthy.

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:

UMN Morris/Sodexo Dining Services has vegetarian and vegan options on the 'hot lunch' menu each day. In addition, there is a stir-fry line, a pasta bar, and a salad bar with protein options such as tofu and beans at every meal.

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:

UMN Morris/Sodexo primarily uses table tents on tables. Most of the messaging is about the on-campus composting program.

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:

UMN Morris/Sodexo has a food rescue program (LeanPath). Pre- and post-consumer food waste is logged and tracked. This is part of our composting and waste recovery program.

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:

UMN Morris/Sodexo has not used trays in Dining Services for over a decade.

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:

Sodexo cooks in batches meaning there is rarely food left that could be donated. With food that is left over, staff creatively reuse it in different meals. For example, surplus hamburgers are ground and used in tacos. We have a food rescue program that repackages leftover food from Dining Services an provides to student in need.

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?:

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:

UMN Morris/Sodexo diverts organics to composting program.

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:

Following a two-year long conversation between Morris students, faculty, and staff, the UMN Morris composting initiative launched in the fall of 2012. Pre-consumer waste is collected from the campus dining hall, and in some on-campus residence halls and composted on-campus. UMN diverted nearly 1M lbs of food scraps from the landfill by 2020.

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:

Following a two year long conversation between Morris students, faculty, and staff, the composting initiative launched in the fall of 2012. Post-consumer waste is currently collected in the dining hall, on-campus café and coffee shops, and in some on-campus residence halls and composted on-campus.

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:

UMN Morris/Sodexo uses metal service ware.

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:

The Turtle Mountain Cafe (TMC) is our restaurant-style option that is not included in our standard meal plan. Anyone can purchase a reusable to-go container to take their food to go; the next day, they can return their dirty container and receive a clean container to take new food to-go.

Our main dining services has buffet-style meals. There are no to-go options so there is no need for reusable containers.

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:

At the on-campus coffee shop, a discount is provided to customers who bring their own mug. Reusable mugs are also for sale at the counter.

Optional Fields

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:

https://morris.sodexomyway.com/explore/sustainability

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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