Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 70.13
Liaison John Alejandro
Submission Date March 24, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of San Diego
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 2.00 Alison Sanchirico
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

USD's Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness and Social Action has worked with the Linda Vista Farmer's Market for several years. CASA supported an economic task force/service learning class that provided marketing & consulting for the Market, leading to an agreement to allow USD students to use their "Campus Cash" dollars to purchase produce from this Farmer's Market. As part of this initiative, CASA supplied funding to waive vendor fees and pay for the equipment to allow this program to move forward. USD will also support the Market by hosting weekly USD "days" when students and employees gather at the Market. This is part of a broader effort to support supplier diversity initiatives.


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:

Tu Mercado is a market and cafe that offers natural, organic, local food, beverages, and merchandise. It includes locally operated, alumni-owned Ryan Bros Fair Trade coffees and organic teas.


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:

USD Dining uses smaller local business for retail items and all tea and coffee. Partners include: Cravory, Cake Pop Shop, Seacoast, John Lenore, and Ryan Brothers, as well as local vendors at sporting events.


Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
11.20

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:

Every Monday Dining Services offers a Meatless Monday entree featured at the largest campus dining facility (Pavilion Dining), at the live-action cooking station. Every spring Dining hosts a plant-based event where only vegan and vegetarian options are offered at all micro-restaurants within Pavilion Dining during dinner. Each large scale bi-annual food festival has a zero-waste component in partnership with the university's Office of Sustainability.


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:

Vegan options are available in all campus dining locations. The largest dining facility and primary residential facility (Pavilion Dining) offers several plant-based proteins including products such as the Beyond Burger. One of the core stations within the facility, "Clean Earth Kitchen," offers a vegan-only menu every dinner. Customers choose from a variety of vegetables, vegan proteins, sauces, supplements, toppings, etc.


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:

Digital menu screens denote all items that are vegan, vegetarian (and/or gluten-free). Various campaigns throughout the year promote low impact food choices and sustainable practices via events, signage (tables/posters etc.), and social media.

https://www.instagram.com/eatatusd/
https://www.facebook.com/usdaux/


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:

USD Dining developed 'Toreros Against Hunger' to decrease food waste and institute a food recovery program for students. Donations of food that has not been served to the public is also offered to San Diego Rescue Mission. The Food Recovery donation program for students is managed via text alerts when unused food is available for recovery.


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:

USD has been 100% tray-free since 2008 across all campus dining locations. Each year Dining assesses and revises all dining and catering menus and portioning to support sustainability efforts and help decrease food waste.


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:

USD Dining developed 'Toreros Against Hunger'to decrease food waste and assist food insecure students on campus.This food recovery program is managed via text alerts when unused food is available for recovery. Unserved food not captured by the TAH program is offered to San Diego Rescue Mission.


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:

Used cooking oil is donated to a vendor to convert it into fuel.


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:

A few departments on campus have small compost bins, but these are volunteer programs, not sponsored by the institution. Dining Services donates all its used coffee grounds to the Grounds Department to be combined with mulch for use on campus landscaping.


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:
---

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 largest dining facility and primary residential facility (Pavilion Dining) and the campus restaurant (La Gran Terraza) offer silverware and china dishes (bowls/plates) for dining in.


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:

Campus Dining Services offers the Ozzi reusable to-go container program. The containers are accepted at campus dining locations: Tu Mercado and Pavilion Dining.

https://www.planetozzi.com/


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:

Since 2010, USD cafes have offered a discount for patrons who bring reusable mugs (currently $.50 on coffee and tea, and $.25 on espressos and tea lattes).

USD Dining was the first campus in California to offer a sustain-a-bottle Freestyle beverage program (2016). The program is open to students, faculty, staff and visitors. Meal plan holders are eligible to receive a free sustain-a-bottle during orientation. All new USD full-time employees are given a free sustain-a-bottle during their HR orientation. The reusable sustain-bottle has a unique RFID chip that allows one to purchase a semester's worth of refreshment at one time and at one low-price (equating to 41 cents a day for unlimited fills compared to $1.35 for one 20-ounce beverage in a single-use cup). Keeps disposable cups, lids and straws out of the landfill while offering great cost savings to customer. No disposable cups of are given out during all-you-care-to eat dinners and weekend brunches.


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

Pre-consumer and post-consumer food scraps are collected from the primary dining facility and put in a biohitech digester there. The digester converts the food to grey water, which then enters the sewer stream. The digester is the BioHiTech Sprout® model by BioHiTech Global (https://biohitech.com/digesters).

Coffee and espresso grounds are also being diverted from the landfill by going to a mulch pile on campus.


Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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