Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.38
Liaison Olivia Shehan
Submission Date Nov. 13, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Wellesley College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Dorothea Von Herder
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilties
"---" 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:
Yes, Wellesley's dining service contractor, AVI, has a sustainable dining policy and list of practices published on their website. See here: http://wellesleyfresh.com/sustainability.html

On-Campus Sourcing 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
Yes

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Occasionally, AVI gets food from the Edible Ecosystem, an on-campus garden, as well as elsewhere from on campus based on seasonal availability. Examples of food sourced from the campus include: crabapples, mint, plums, persimmons, dried sumac, oregano, thyme, lavender, chives, and goldenrod.

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:
Each year AVI hosts a Sustainability Fest that brings in sustainable vendors (Neiman Ranch, Red's Best, Fantini Bread).

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:
In all five main dining halls at every meal, there are vegan options available. Everyday in the Lulu Chow Wang dining room, there is a raw food station, where a high protein, raw vegan meal is prepared using fresh ingredients. One of our dining halls, Pomeroy, is completely kosher and vegetarian, so there are many high-protein, hot vegan options there as well. There is also a hot vegan station at Tower dining hall, and all cafeterias have fully stocked salad bars, which are mostly vegan and contain beans, lentils, legumes, tofu, and seeds for high protein sources. Dining services serves plain whole grains everyday such as brown rice, millet, quinoa, cous-cous, and whole wheat pasta. Every other day the dining halls serve delicious and popular vegan brownies for a dessert option.

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:
---

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:
In the Fall, AVI hosts a "Harvest Dinner" which consists of locally harvested foods, which includes lot of apples and squashes.

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:
At the Emporium, a kind of convenience store run by AVI in the campus center, there is a local foods section and a sustainability wall.

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:
AVI uses the Neiman Ranch Logo, Red's Best poster board and GMRI labeling to label all meat and seafood that comes from those sustainable sources.

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:
Sustainability Fest: brings in sustainable vendors used by the college (Neiman Ranch, Red's Best, Fantini Bread). Dish-ues: A campaign against dish-loss run by student interns of AVI. Wellesley has to replace thousands of plates each year as students throw them away or lose them.

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:
The AVI dietician runs nutrition tables in dining halls throughout the school year.

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:
The weights of compost and trash waste are recorded for management of the college's output.

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:
We are a trayless dining program. We also plate meals in order to minimize waste. We plate everything in smaller portions so students can try a little of everything instead of wasting a larger sized portion. We consistently modify our menus throughout the year to meet student needs. If we see that a menu item isn’t popular, we remove it from the menu.

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:
Pie in the Sky is an event where AVI makes pies and gives them to those in need during Thanksgiving as part of a larger Boston organization (http://www.pieinthesky.org/). Food for Free: Wellesley packages and donates leftover cooked food to the Boston organization Food for Free. Community Servings: Wellesley donates food and labour to a program that supports the families of those who are critically and chronically ill.

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:
We compost, convert our cooking oil to fuel, and recycle cardboard, cans, and plastic bottles.

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:
Dining Services partnered with the Office of Sustainability in the fall of 2012 to begin a pre consumer food waste composting program. This has led to a full composting program campus wide including pre and post consumer waste. Our new composting partner, Agri-Cycle, turns the scraps in energy through an anaerobic digestion facility.

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:
Our pre- and post- consumer composting program both end up in the same stream.

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:
All dining halls have reusable service ware. At any of our events that are outside of the dining hall and in our retail locations we use compostable paper products which can be composted in conjunction with our food composting program.

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:
All disposable containers are compostable and are collected in our compost program.

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:
We do offer a discount for those who use reusable mugs. If you come to one of our 3 retail operations (Emporium, Collins Café, Leaky Beaker) with a reusable mug, you get an approximately $ .30 cent discount on your coffee. (ex. Large Starbucks Coffee (non refill) = $1.74, Large Starbucks Coffee (Refill-Reusable Cup) = $1.44) Also, all the brands of coffee that we offer (Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee and Tea and Pura Vida) were chosen due to their commitment to developing and maintaining sustainability initiatives. In addition, all of our coffee brands are fair trade and put a heavy emphasis on producing the most high quality product without interfering with their environmental responsibility.

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)?:
Yes

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
We make bulk purchases of items to reduce waste from packaging. The college also participates in the EPA's Waste Wise program and has won two honorable mention awards for our practices.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.wellesleyfresh.com/sustainability.html

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.