Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.84
Liaison Morgan Hartman
Submission Date Dec. 12, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Morgan Hartman
Recycling Coordinator
FMO
"---" 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:
The East Campus Discovery Days and Farmers Market, established in 2021, offers UNL's east campus and surrounding community neighbors and friends access to science literacy opportunities, locally produced fresh food, value-added artisans, and access to on-campus family fun activities. The goal of the program is to engage and build relationships with community members by, providing locally produced nutritious foods to community members, providing an avenue for farmers and producers to sell their produce, providing science literacy opportunities for youth, providing a safe, fun, entertaining environment for people of all ages, and providing opportunities for students.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
The UNL Loeffel Meat Laboratory sells meat products produced by student workers studying meat science. The Loeffel Meat Laboratory, established in 1953, sells meat every Friday from 11 am to 5:30 pm.

The UNL Dairy Store has been a beloved part of the university community since 1917. The store sells premium quality ice creams, cheeses, and meats handmade by UNL students at the on-site plant. Food science students are provided the opportunity to invent and create products and learn about and research dairy products in the dairy plant and facility.

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:
University Dining Services supports local farmers through the purchase of local foods in the Nebraska. Local. Program. UNL defines local as foods obtained from a 250-mile radius of Lincoln and anywhere in Nebraska. Started in 2005, the program partners with a variety of producers to purchase animal products, vegetables, honey, baked goods, and more.

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
2.50

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:
A Vegie+ line (vegetarian/vegan) serving area was initiated at Abel Dining Center in 2021

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:
University Dining Service has two types of vegan dining programs as follows:

Vegan and vegetarian options are provided at every meal at all the dining centers. The dining centers also work with students, staff, faculty and others to identify additional vegan entrees to serve. Vegan entrees are classified by having at least five grams of protein per serving.

Vegetarian/Vegan serving area at Abel Dining Center, where vegan selections are available at all meals.

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 Nebraska. Local. menu items are identified as NL on the menus displayed on the dining center monitors, on the University Dining website menus and on the menus available on mobile devices.

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:
The Leanpath program was implemented in January 2021 in all five on-campus dining centers. Leanpath is a software, analytics, and collection technology that helps each dining center measure the amount of food waste generated. The software also helps food establishments understand why certain types of food are being wasted, which helps Dining Services identify opportunities to adapt and employ strategies to reduce waste. All of UNL's dining centers have a baseline amount of food waste that the food establishments strive to say under. Any amount that is less than the baseline number is considered food waste that was prevented. According to baseline data, Leanpath has helped the dining centers prevent 68,840 pounds of food waste, avoid 217.53 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and keep 57,367 meals in the food system as of March 2022. The above March 31, 2022 information was calculated by assessing the change in waste compared to the weekly baseline.

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:
Trayless dining was implemented through University Dining Services at all dining centers in spring 2009 and is still being followed. Students are provided different size plates and bowls. Trays are used only in situations for individuals with special needs.

The recommended portions sizes are encouraged through posting of nutrition information on the monitors, website, and mobile devices with the defined portion size of the menu item.

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:
Donations of leftover food are made to the nonprofit, FoodNet. FoodNet is a group of volunteers from local churches and other non-profit organizations trying to stop the waste of food and provide for those in need. FoodNet volunteers collect food from UNL dining centers for distribution at their distribution sites around the Lincoln area each day. The dining centers maintain the excess food at the correct temperature and time requirements. Food donations are made throughout the academic year and also from conferences held on UNL’s campus during the summer.

UNL Dining Services also works with the student government (ASUN) and the Husker Pantry to hold food drives. Additionally, Dining Services donates free meal tickets to the Husker Food Pantry, so that students needing assistance are able to eat meals at the dining centers.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Cooking oil that has been used in the dining centers is picked up by a waste management service that picks up used food service grease and sells it for cosmetics and soaps.

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:
Cather Dining Center is composting in the garden located by the dining center.

University Dining Services has aerobic digesters installed in four of the five dining centers. Biodigesters, breakdown food material into smaller particles, eventually becoming an effluent that could be used as fertilizer for agricultural purposes. The digester effluent is directed to the sewer line. Utilizing biodigesters reduces the amount of food waste placed in landfills as well as the costs associated with transportation. All four dining centers with biodigesters installed are utilizing them to collect pre-consumer food waste.

The East Campus Union dining center does not currently have a biodigester installed, but the Dining Services team at that location partners with UNL’s Landscape Services team to compost pre-consumer food waste from that location specifically.

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:
University Dining Services has aerobic digesters installed in four of the five dining centers. Biodigesters, breakdown food material into smaller particles, eventually becoming an effluent that could be used as fertilizer for agricultural purposes. The digester effluent is directed to the sewer line. Utilizing biodigesters reduces the amount of food waste placed in landfills as well as the costs associated with transportation. Three of the four dining centers that currently have biodigesters installed are also utilizing them to collect post-consumer food waste from within the dining centers.

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:
Reusable service ware consists of china dishes, plastic glasses, and stainless silverware.

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:
UNL Dining offers limited to-go options. Along with this, dining centers on both city and east campuses have Ozzi to-go containers available for use. Ozzi to-go containers are reusable containers that help eliminate waste in traditional take-out systems.

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:
UNL Dining offers limited to-go options. However, on-campus coffee houses such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts encourage individuals to bring reusable mugs. Additionally, the on-campus Starbucks incentives for the program by providing a 10 cents discount when individuals order with a reusable mug.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
University Dining Services provides menu options representative of different cultures, such as Halal, Brazilian, and other cultures.

Plastic bags have been eliminated and replaced with paper sacks in the Herbie’s Markets.

Compostable dining containers and sacks are required throughout the university and are used in dining centers but at the present time there is not a process in place so that the compostable products can be composted.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://dining.unl.edu/sustainability

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.