Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 47.15
Liaison Sarah Leola Hunt
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of North Carolina, Pembroke
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.43 / 2.00 Courtney Page
Energy and Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Operations
"---" 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:
Once a month, Sodexo brings in local North Carolina farmers and hosts a farmers market in the University Center. We also have sustainable fish and seafood products in the cafeteria but they are not sourced locally.

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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
---

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:
Purchase of goods from New Ground Farms (local farm that provides produce to UNCP), Local Food Trucks are invited and sought after to serve on campus, Bingo-Bango (minority-owned soda company), and Tropical Fruit and Nut (woman-owned snack company).

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
30

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:
Harmony vegan-only station available at every meal. Completely plant based options, ~30% of the remaining dining options.

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:
Vegetarian, vegan and mindful (healthy low calorie) options are each identified by sign, everyday in the main dining hall. There is an entire section dedicated to vegan only options as well as a section dedicated to food that does not include common allergies like nuts, gluten, etc.

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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
---

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:
UNCP is a chapter member of the Sodexo Food Recovery Network program. In this program, UNCP student volunteers recover pre-consumer food and deliver it to off campus community partners. UNCP currently has three community partners, Sacred Pathways, Vertical Church and Pembroke Housing Authority.
The food waste prevention system used is Lean Path, where we weigh our production waste to identify training issues within the staff and plan to reduce the waste in our food selections.

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:
UNCP dinning services has been trayless for years to reduce the amount of food consumers are getting at once to help reduce overall food waste.

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:
In fall of 2015 UNCP became a chapter member of the Sodexo Food Recovery Network. We partner with 3 local community installations to donate pre consumer food to help feed our community.

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?:
No

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
---

Composting 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
---

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:
---

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:
Dining Services use compostable cups as well as utensils for catering. Napkins are also made from 100% recycled paper.

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:
Reusable containers are available for to-go options.

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?:
No

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
---

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
We have a microgreen farm in the dining facility in which we use for herbs and other smaller plants to use in the everyday meals.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
2023

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.