Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 35.08
Liaison Susan Caplow
Submission Date July 24, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Montevallo
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.75 / 2.00 Susan Caplow
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Behavioral and Social Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
No

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
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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?:
No

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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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:

We offer a vegan-vegetarian destination station called Rooted in our dining hall at each lunch and dinner meal period. Additionally, 95% of our vegetable offerings are vegan/vegetarian with very limited options that include any type of meat protein.


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:

Yes, we have a constant rotation of low impact dining events including meatless menus, farm-to-table events and superfood spotlights


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:

Yes, we have a constant rotation of low impact dining events including meatless menus, farm-to-table events and superfood spotlights


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 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:

Through signage, dish identification cards and print/wall graphics, we communicate food sustainability to dining hall visitors.


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:

Sustainability Committee organized a food waste challenge in spring 2018 to encourage students to minimize food waste.


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:

We support the university’s health and wellness initiatives by donating fruits and vegetables, we also have switched our disposable products to compostable paper products and eliminated all foam and plastic disposable items. For the coming year we plan to eliminate single serve carryout boxes and initiate a campus-wide reusable carryout 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:

Sustainability Committee organized a food waste challenge in spring 2018 to encourage students to minimize food waste.


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 do not use trays in the dining hall, and allow students to serve themselves at most of the food bars.


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:

We currently track our raw food waste on a daily basis to educate staff to reduce food waste and we supply all raw vegetable scraps to the campus community garden, however the local restaurant health department will not let us donate any foods that are not in their raw state. We do donate raw, fresh produce to the local community food pantry periodically throughout the year


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)?:
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:

Food scraps go to the Organic Community Garden for composting.


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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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 service ware is reusable in the dining hall.


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:

We started a reusable to-go pilot program this past year, and it will increase in size next year.


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:

If they return their container at the end of the year, they get a free ice cream at the ice cream shop on campus.


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)?:
No

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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