Virginia Tech
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Homefield Farm is a partnership between Dining Services and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is the only certified organic operation owned by a university in Virginia. The twelve-acre, student-driven farm is located eight miles west of the Blacksburg campus and provides roughly 50,000 pounds of fresh produce to our dining centers and Homefield's farm stands on campus.

The on-campus farm stand is an ongoing program of Homefield Farm and is a collaboration between Dining Services, the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Operated by students and staff members, the farm stands are open throughout the fall semester. Produce offerings vary based on availability at the farm. Stands are set up at the Dietrick Plaza, a central point for foot traffic.

Farms is one of Virginia Tech Dining Services' signature units located in Owens Food Court. Farms serves signature local, organic, and sustainable dishes. Customers will find a seasonal menu using produce, meat, and dairy from the Dining Services garden at Homefield Farm, as well as other local producers.

In addition, many of our dining centers utilize the produce from Homefield Farms (our campus produce farm) for fresh salads, sauces and various dishes. Our chefs will work to preserve items throughout summer months that will be utilized for normal service during the academic year. In the fall, during peak harvest at our farm, you will see fresh local menu items offered throughout are dining units.

Farms, located in Owens Food Court, serves exclusively local, organic, and sustainable foods.

Blacksburg Bagels, founded by Virginia Tech alumni, can also be found at Farms.

Deet's Place, located at Dietrick Hall, purchases direct-trade coffee from sustainable coffee plantations in Nicaragua, Brazil and Colombia. They also serve a wide selection of organic teas.

Homestead Creamery in Wirtz, Virginia provides several locations with soft serve ice cream.

Local coffee producer, Red Rooster Coffee (Floyd, VA), is also featured in Owen's Hall.

Dining Services always has plant-based options on the menus across campus. Students can utilize the interactive nutrition page to search for specific dietary preferences or specific plant-based items at any time. https://foodpro.dsa.vt.edu/menus/

We listen to our students; as they continue to push for more plant-based dishes, we plan to continue our expansion of sustainable menu options. https://news.vt.edu/articles/2022/01/sa-dining-plant-forward.html

Please refer to our Dining Services Online Menu for a comprehensive listing of diverse, complete-protein vegan options available to every member of the campus community at every meal. You can also utilize the search option for specific requests.

http://foodpro.dsa.vt.edu/menus/

* Vegetarian Items ** Vegan Items

Sustainability is at the heart of our marketing efforts within our dining centers. We have made it a priority to provide signage related to the following:

- Plant-forward meals
- "Choose to reuse" reusable containers
- Local sourcing signage related to our twelve-acre Homefield Farm (campus produce)
- Campus sourced ingredients, such as beef, pork, eggs, and milk
- Highlighting local vendors in our dining halls whose items are featured on our menus

Virginia Tech Dining Services continuously works to minimize food waste and effectively track pre-production and post-consumer waste. Currently, our chefs log pre-production food waste using written waste logs; this information is then transferred to our FoodPro system for easy access and record keeping. On occasion, waste audits are performed in-house in an effort to recognize and address patterns.

As part of our waste management system, we partner with VT Engage “Campus Kitchen” to divert unserved meals to our local community partners. During the academic year, this program works with our dining units daily to distribute food to those in need while reducing waste. The Dining Services Sustainability Manager is in the process of working closely with Campus Kitchen to expand efforts into The Market at VT. This program is already active through VT Engage - Dining Services has plans to divert food items, which cannot be utilized by our community partners, to The Market program. All diversion quantities are logged through Dining Services as well as Campus Kitchen.

Most recently, Dining Services, in partnership with the Office of Sustainability, is working closely with the university’s contracted waste consultants, Reduction in Motion, to pinpoint area for improvement. Reduction in Motion completed a thorough walkthrough of our waste management systems this past spring (’23). This audit will assist us in better understanding how Dining Services can improve their current systems and implement more stringent preventative measures.

After a post-consumer waste study in the spring of 2008 we found that nearly 30% less food is wasted when trays are not readily offered. As a result, Virginia Tech Dining Services removed trays from our all-you-care-to-eat facilities in summer 2008. The trays were removed during the summer so that incoming students would be integrated into the culture when they arrived on campus. Trays are still offered as an ADA accommodation or upon special request.

Washington Post article about trayless dining programs, featuring Virginia Tech: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/17/AR2011021703343.html

Virginia Tech News article about trayless dining: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2008/06/2008-421.html

The Campus Kitchen program is a partnership between VT Engage and Virginia Tech Dining Services. Campus Kitchen works to increase food access and to reduce food waste by redirecting unserved food from on-campus dining centers to hunger relief agencies in the New River Valley. Since launching in fall 2015, we have:

- Diverted over 263,000 pounds of quality, unserved food from campus to the community.
- Worked with six hunger relief agencies and other nonprofits: Radford-Fairlawn Daily Bread, the Giving Tree Food Pantry, Plenty! Farm and Food Bank, New River Valley Agency on Aging, Warm Hearth Village, and the YMCA after school program.
- Worked with eight Virginia Tech dining centers: D2, Deet's Place, West End Market, Owens Food Court, Hokie Grill, Au Bon Pain, Southgate and Burger '37.

There are plans in place to discuss extending diversion efforts to all of our dining units. This fall (’23) we will add VIVA Market to our list.

Our cooking oil is recycled through Valley Protein. Valley Protein processes the waste into animal feed and biofuel products.

In addition, our composted materials make their way to our local partner, Royal Oak Farms. Composted waste is turned into nutrient rich soils that are later used as natural fertilizers.

Virginia Tech composts its post and pre-consumer compostable waste using a third-party facility, Royal Oak Farm. The university sends about 500 tons of organic waste to the farm annually. Various dining units on campus have sent more than 5,500 tons of food waste and biodegradable food packaging to the farm since 2009.

https://dining.vt.edu/sustainability/waste_minimization.html

https://wset.com/news/local/on-virginia-farm-microbes-turn-organic-waste-into-compost

We utilize the same program, as described above, for our post-consumer composting needs.

Aside from our grab-n-go units, all dining centers offer reusable utensils for dine-in meals.

Dining Services partnered with the Student Government Association, Housing and Residence Life, and the Office of Sustainability to offer a Reusable To-Go (R2G) program that makes Virginia Tech a more sustainable place to live and work.
Using Virginia Tech’s free Reusable To-Go program is a great way to reduce waste – and it’s free! As an alternative, for visitors and those not making a timely return to campus, compostable clamshells cost 25 cents to purchase. Our clamshells are BPI certified compostable. Most dining units will even sort these containers into the appropriate waste receptacle for you.

How the R2G program works:
1: Ask for your to-go food in a free Reusable To-Go (R2G) container.
2: Take your food to go! Once you finish your food, we appreciate it if you empty and rinse your container.
3: Bring your container to a dish station or return station in Turner Place, Xpress Lane, West End Market or Owens Food Court.
4: Repeat!

For more information about our reusable container program, check out this link:

https://dining.vt.edu/about/Reusable_To_Go_Program.html

Please see the above information: Our reusable to go containers are a free option for all visitors. Our compostable clamshells are 25cents to purchase.

We allow all visitors to use their own reusable water bottles for water refills at our soda stations.

We believe in a sustainable future for Virginia Tech.

For Dining Services, sustainability is a core part of our mission. Our vision for sustainable campus dining is part of how we design our dining centers, source our ingredients, and our commitment to recycling and composting programs. We believe our green initiatives positively impact our Blacksburg campus and the broader community.
Virginia Tech Dining Services is an independently run campus dining operation. Here’s how our innovative programs work:

Farm to Table
One of our campus food sources is Homefield Farm, a partnership between Dining Services and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The twelve-acre farm grows fruits, vegetables, and herbs specifically for our dining units. It serves as a site of experiential student learning, research, and community outreach. Look for signs in the dining centers letting you know what dishes are utilizing ingredients sourced from our farm. Students have opportunities to get involved through classes, volunteer opportunities, and summer farm work. Discover more about Homefield Farm: dining.vt.edu/sustainability/Homefield

Local Sourcing
To help reduce food miles and support our local economy, VT Dining Services strives to source food that is produced as close to campus as possible. Many of the foods we serve are grown and produced at Virginia Tech! We define local as products that are grown or produced within 250 miles of campus, or in Virginia. We also try to source sustainable/ethical, Fair Trade certified and organic items whenever possible. We work with a wide variety of local growers and producers. Our campus sourced foods include Homefield Farm, Virginia Tech Meat Center, and campus-raised eggs and milk. You can find more details about each of these sources by visiting our website. Farms, located in Owens Food Court, serves exclusively local, organic, and sustainable foods. Blacksburg Bagels, founded by Virginia Tech alumni, can also be found at Farms. Deet’s Place, at Dietrick Hall, purchases direct-trade coffee from a sustainable coffee plantation in Nicaragua and serves a wide selection of organic teas. Homestead Creamery provides several locations with ice cream.

Recycling & Composting
Virginia Tech Dining Services is committed to minimizing our environmental impact through composting, recycling, food diversion, and reusables. Our composting efforts now include all dining centers on campus. Royal Oak Farm, processes Virginia Tech’s food waste and turns it into nutrient rich soils. Paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastics #1-2 are recyclable across campus. Dining Services partners with Campus Kitchen at Virginia Tech to donate excess food to local food banks. To date Campus Kitchen has diverted more than 132 tons of food. As of spring 2018 Virginia Tech Dining Services is 100% polystyrene free! We worked with national brands such as Chick-Fil-A and Dunkin’, as well as our original campus concepts, to eliminate foam containers from our waste stream.

Data provided by Emily Williams, Sustainability Manager for Housing and Dining Services, wemily98@vt.edu, 540-231-6988