Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 50.80
Liaison Aldo Pierini
Submission Date March 27, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Villanova University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 2.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1: Sustainable Dining Initiatives 

Sustainable Dining Policy

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
Dining Services is committed to protecting and preserving our environment. With the help of our customers we strive to reduce waste and use renewable resources as much as possible in all of our dining locations. While we emphasize the key programs described here, sustainable dining practices and waste reduction is stressed throughout our dining operations. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/sustainability.html

On-Campus Sourcing 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
No

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Food safety laws in our township does not allow consumption of food grown in a farm that is not tested for contaminates or secured from people passing by.

Local Community Engagement 

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Villanova Dining Services has teamed up with Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative to bring community supported agriculture (CSA) to the Villanova community. Villanova students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to purchase vegetable shares through the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. Each week for shares consisting of a variety of fresh produce from that week’s harvest will be delivered to the 2nd Storey Market for members to pick up and enjoy. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/sustainability/VillanovasCSA.html

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:
Vegan menu options are available at all dining locations on campus for each meal. The residential dining halls feature complete-protein vegan entrees and vegan options which includes at least one vegan soup daily. At dinner, a vegetarian and vegan entrée are featured. In the three resident halls, a vegan refrigerator is stocked with vegan food products along with dried fruits. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/nutrition/villanova_vegan.html

Low-Impact Dining Events 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
No

A brief description of the low impact dining events:
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Sustainability-Themed Meals 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host sustainability-themed meals (e.g. local harvest dinners)?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
Veggie mania dinner: chefs compete to make the best vegan dish Farm to Fork dinner: the meal highlights the local farmers we work with only a daily bases to source our food. Local Thursdays: Each Thursday the breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus in our resident dining halls are built around locally sourced items that are available that week. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/sustainability/localthursday.html

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:
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Labeling and Signage 

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
All meals are labeled as being vegan, vegetarian or gluten free

Outreach and Education 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor engage in outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
Dining Services does a phenomenal job in outreach through their website, social media page, university daily emails, and signage. Students are always welcome to suggest new ideas and many times meet directly with the Dining Director. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/sustainability.html

Other Initiatives 

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)?:
Yes

A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
VEG stands for "Villanova Eats Great." Villanova Dining Services aspires to bring you nutritionally-dense cuisine on a daily basis, in each of our 18 dining locations across campus. We designed a Nutrition Program that anyone can follow to make more mindful choices. Increasing your nutrition is as simple as making more plant-based dietary decisions. We've introduced concepts that don't require calorie or carb counting, rather focusing on eating whole foods that are less processed and more wholesome.

Part 2: Food and Dining Waste 

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:
Dining services is currently using the LeanPath Program to track all pre-consumer food waste on campus. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/sustainability/reducereuse.html

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 the Fall of 2008 St. Mary's Dining Hall, on West Campus, eliminated trays from the dining room. At the time, tray-less dining was a new but fast spreading sustainability initiative at many colleges and universities around the country. Tray-less dining was well received in St. Mary's and in January of 2009 Tray-less dining was expanded to include all three resident dining halls on Villanova's campus.

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:
Currently we donate all perishable products in our inventory before we close for breaks (fall, spring, and Christmas) to Philabundance. We also participate in the food recovery network and donate leftover food from the dining halls to a local soup kitchen. In 2015 the students donated over 4,700 pounds of food. In addition, we have other food donation programs such as Sunday Breakfast Mission, Shiloam Ministries, and many other events such as Special Olympics, Relay for life, and St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service.

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 (e.g. converting cooking oil to fuel, on-site anaerobic digestion)?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Villanova Dining Services uses fryer oil supplied by Oilmatic. Oilmatic supplies us with an expeller pressed, trans fat and preservative free, high oleic canola oil through a closed system and collects our used oil for recycling. Over the past school year Oilmatic has collected over 30,000 pounds of used oil from Villanova, 100% of which has been used in the production of biodiesel and paint, none has gone into any form of animal feed.

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:
The majority of food trimmings produced during food preparation are weighed, recorded and placed in the composting cans. These cans are stored in a walk-in refrigerator designated for food waste and then they are picked up by a local composer, Kitchen Harvest.

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:
In Donahue, Dougherty and St. Mary’s dining halls post consumer food waste is scraped from plates\bowls and run through a pulper and stored in the same manner as the pre-consumer compost until it is picked up by a local hauler.

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:
We have three all-you-care-to-eat dining halls on campus, they all use reusable service ware.

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)?:
No

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
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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?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Anyone who uses a reusable mug at an on campus coffee shop will get a $0.25 discount on their drink. Branded reusable mugs are available at all cafe's on campus for $2.

Other Materials Management Initiatives 

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)?:
No

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
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Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/services/dining/sustainability.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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