Overall Rating	Silver
Overall Score	56.35
Liaison	Amy Kadrie
Submission Date	Dec. 15, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Rochester
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.00 / 2.00	Cameron Schauf Director Dining Services

"---" 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:

Dining Services supports the Westside Farmers Market across the river from the University. The Director of Campus Dining Services & Auxiliary Operations is on the market board and students can use their meal plans to purchase food at the market.

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:

Connections, a café in the main library, celebrates local purchasing with over 95% of all food and beverages in that location coming from New York State. In addition, the operation was made plastic free this year. One of our main dining facilities, Douglass Dining Center, features pictures of all many of the farms that we purchase from on the walls of the facility. Signage points out all of the local products and the plant forward options.

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:

We already do business with a number of SME’s and we are working to increase that number.

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

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:

We promote plant-forward dining throughout our residential facilities. We have zero waste events to promote waste reduction.

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:

We have multiple vegan stations as well as offering vegan options at every station.

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:

For our special events like local foods week, vegan meals, water footprint, zero waste we use table tents, tabling and posters to tell the story. Everyday we have chalkboards, digital boards, message boards, pictures and sneeze guard clings to tell the story of local farmers, recycling, composting and sustainable dining. We also inform guests through our social media.

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:

We participate in the Food Recover Network and work to control our waste with LeanPath.

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:

In further efforts to decrease waste production, Danforth Dining Hall went "tray-less" for Earth Day, April 22nd 2008. Since then, trays have been eliminated in all dining halls, resulting in less water and energy used for cleaning, as well as a decrease in 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:

We work with the campus chapter of the Food Recovery Network to make this happen.

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:

We compost, recycle our cooking oil and have a bio-digestor on campus.

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:

Compostable materials generated in meal preparation are collected in every kitchen on the River Campus.

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:

Dining Services composted between 5,000 and 10,000 lbs of post-consumer organic waste per month in 2007 with Freshwise Farms. The composting program has since expanded, and in the 08/09 school year, the University sent 66,210 lbs of compost to Freshwise Farms, one of our produce suppliers. Currently, all waste from major dining halls is composted by Waste Management and transported to a composting test site in Fairport.
We collect post-consumer compost in all of our residential dining facilities and pre-consumer in all of the locations.

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:

The two residential dining facilities use reusable ware almost exclusively. For the few items that aren't reusable we use compostable.

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:

We have compostable and reusable containers available throughout our program.

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:

We have incentives for our reusable mug program that includes a lower refill price and punch cards with prizes.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:

---

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:

https://dining.rochester.edu/sustainability/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

EcoReps 2018.ppt

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

---

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.