| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.35 |
| Liaison | Suchi Daniels |
| Submission Date | Feb. 19, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of South Florida (Tampa)
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Jessica
Cicalese USF Dining Dietitian Aramark |
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
We purchase local, seasonal and responsibly raised, grown and sourced products whenever possible. We firmly believe responsible
sourcing has a direct impact on our local and global economies, our health and wellness and the environment. With every purchase we
engage suppliers and partners in an effort to source environmentally and socially responsible products.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
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?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
USF Dining Services has collaborated with USF Wellness Education to bring The Greens and Gold Fresh Market to campus every
Thursday. The Market promotes overall well-being by encouraging social connectedness; increasing access to local produce and
products; providing educational activities and programs; and connecting the campus community to health and wellness resources on
campus.
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?:
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
At each of our three residential dining halls USF Dining offers a vegan station. At each station a build your own vegan stirfry, with a variety
of plant based protein options, is available as well as full plant-based hot entree. Throughout each dining hall all of our menu items are
labeled with a light and dark green leaf representing vegetarian and vegan options. A dining vegan and vegetarian guide is available to
all customers dining on campus. USF Dining also offers, Green Monday and other vegan events such as VegOut. Our registered dietitian
hosts these events for student to learn how eat a well balanced plant-based diet and how to accomplish this on campus.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events:
USF Dining hosts Green Monday (Meatless Monday) every week to promote plant-based diets on campus. Green Monday allows students to
vote for their favorite vegan entree through social media and the winning entree will be featured that following Monday in the residential
dining hall. We also offer $1 off green Monday (Meatless products) in our retail locations.
Veg Out is another great event USF Dining hosts in the residential dining halls. It offers resources and programming to educate guests on
plant forward diets and the many health and environmental benefits of eating more plants.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
USF Dining Services celebrates World Food Day. Food Day is all about a more sustainable, healthy and fair food system, so the menu for
the event features items that were purchased locally and are more sustainable.
For Campus Sustainability Day, USF Dining features a localized menu, and our Executive Chef will provide a cooking demonstration on
how to incorporate these ingredients into the menu.
USF Dining is a partner in the Campus Farmer's Market and features a Farm to Fork menu and menu items from our local partners.
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
Green Thread Walls in all residential dining locations: Our first Green Thread wall went up early last week at Fresh Food Company. The
Green Thread Wall is a visible representation of our sustainability platform with Aramark. It showcases the local farms we use, how we
reduce waste, sustainable food a resources we use, how much we’ve composted or donated, and other ways we continue to give back to
the environment. Our goal is to put a Green Thread Wall in each of our residential dining locations.
Meet the Farmer Bios are placed at the stations throughout all of our Dining Halls that utilize their local ingredients.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
USF Dining has sustainability stewards that are proactive in incorporating sustainable initiatives and new initiatives into the dining
program. Each year, two team members attend the AASHE Conference to obtain the latest on higher education sustainable research and
initiatives to bring back to USF.
USF Dining District Manager and Registered Dietitian are a part of the University Sustainability Task Force to collect and collaborate on
Campus Sustainability research and updates.
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)?:
A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
USF Dining participates in sustainable events across campus along with campus partners monthly. Some events include: Sustainability
Fish Fridays at every residential dining hall on campus, Green Monday, Earthweek, RecycleMania, RecycleFest, and Meatout Day with
SPEAK Student Organization and National World Water Day.
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?:
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
To further measure and manage food waste, we’ve installed LeanPath’s industry-leading food waste prevention smart meters. We are
enabling real-time food waste tracking and insights that help drive behavior change for pre and post consumer waste in all of our
locations.
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?:
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
Trayless dining is used throughout all residential dining halls at USF to help reduce food waste and reduce water usage since 2009.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
A brief description of the food donation program:
USF Dining, in collaboration with the USF Center for Student Well-Being, have donated approximately 150 pounds of fresh produce and
leftover bagels from Einstein Bros. Bagels since March 2017, to the on-campus Feed-A-Bull food pantry for students in need.
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)?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
100% of USF Dining's Cooking Oil is currently recycled and converted into Bio Diesel to fuel the on-campus Bus Shuttles.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
USF Dining Services started a composting partnership with loacl Tampa Bay Mulch Inc. in the beginning of 2016. Since our partnership
first began, the grand total of pounds of food diverted out of the waste stream, and 100% made into organic soil is 14,500lbs or 7.2 tons of
waste diverted. We currently compost in 2 out of our 3 residential dining halls.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
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?:
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
All plates and cup ware in our dining halls are made from recyclable materials and fibers.
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)?:
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
USF Dining is excited to introduce the latest Green Thread Initiative to drive our sustainability efforts and reduce the number of waste
diverted to the landfill from to-go cups. USF Dining has introduced The Cupanion Program in each of the three residential dining halls on
campus this fall. Students purchase an Eco-friendly reusable mug (Cupanion) to utilize at dining locations across campus. These reusable
mugs will replace the paper Eco-ground cups used last semester in the residential dining halls. Last year, our three residential dining
restaurants contributed 1,055,900 units of trash related to drinking cups (cups, sleeves, and lids) to the landfill. USF Dining’s goal is to
reduce this number to zero through the Cupanion program.
As of spring 2014 USF Dining implemented a reusable to-go container program. By focusing on reuse and waste minimization, the waste
stream is positively reduced by “reusing” a to-go container many times, prior to recycling.
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Students who utilize the Cupanion Program will be able to track their impact and earn rewards each time they reuse their mug on
campus, by downloading the Cupanion App. We currently have close to 300 users since August 2017.
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)?:
A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
USF Dining Services is currently using the LeanPath System to reduce all waste.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.