Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.76
Liaison Lindsey MacDonald
Submission Date June 6, 2023

STARS v2.2

Western Washington University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Steve Wadsworth
Resident District Manager
Dinning Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives

Local community engagement

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:
The Viking Support Agriculture Program is Western’s Community Supported Agriculture program, bringing students, staff, and faculty in contact with local produce and producers. By signing up, participants receive a box of local, fresh, organic fruits and veggies every week (during summer) or every other week (during winter). The VSA is a program of the WWU Sustainability Engagement Institute.

The Puget Sound Food Hub is a robust farmer-owned cooperative operating in the Puget Sound region. Western Dining is continuing to expand purchasing with Puget Sound and is working with Aramark’s Supply Chain team to identify opportunities to work with even more small farms in the region through purchasing commitments.

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:
Viking Commons, Ridgeway Commons, and Fairhaven Commons are all Green Restaurant Association certified, and received an “A” report card rating from PETA. All three locations feature regular Farm to Fork meals, where all stations feature menus utilizing local produce, seafood, dairy, and other animal proteins. Dine-in service uses 100% reusable service ware and provides a reusable option for customers choosing their meal to-go. All pre and post-consumer organic waste is composted, and all plastics, aluminum, paper, and cardboard are recycled.

Inclusive and local sourcing

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:
Aramark has a dedicated Supplier Diversity Manager who works with the local team at Western Washington to identify Women and Minority owned businesses, along with disadvantaged businesses and social enterprises available in the region.

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

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:
Western Washington was one of the pilot schools of Aramark’s “Cool Food Meals” program, which features recipes with a low carbon footprint, as identified by the World Resource Institute. Tabling events were hosted to educate customers on the new Cool Food menu identifier, along with a campaign on social media. Aramark’s Regional Dietician and Sustainability Director hosted plant-forward events at all dining halls to educate meal plan holders on the healthy and environmental benefits of choosing “plant-forward” options.

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:
“The Root” station at all dining halls features 100% vegan recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Vegan and vegetarian options are also available throughout the dining halls at other stations, and are identified by specific icons on menu boards.

Labelling and signage 

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:
“Cool Food Meals” icons are used on menu boards to inform customers of low impact food choices. We also utilize signage throughout all locations to educate students on our local partners, waste reduction efforts, sustainably certified seafood and animal product options, seasonal produce, composting, and more.

Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery

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:
We use the “5 P’s” system of managing food purchases and waste: Plan, Product, Production, Portion, and Post-Analysis. Each one of these steps has a set of tools available to our operators to help them manage food waste along the way. The Western Dining team also hosts “Weigh the Waste” events, which are intended to educate customers on their role to help reduce food waste within the all you care to eat locations, and to inform our culinary team of any improvements or modifications they can implement to further these efforts.

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:
Trays are not offered in any of the Residential dining locations. The vast majority of stations have a dining employee present to serve food, which allows for proper portioning and oversight. Customers are always welcome to come back for seconds.

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:
Western Dining has worked with the campus chapter of Food Recovery Network, a group of students dedicated to recovering excess food from campus dining locations weekly. This group has been on pause since the start of the Covid pandemic. We currently partner with Swipe Out Hunger to oversee the meal swipe donation program, which is a service offered to any student facing food insecurity. Furthermore, our team has supported campus food pantry pop-up events.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Used fryer oil is collected from dining locations and recycled for biodiesel. Aramark is also working with a group of students on a potential on-site anaerobic digestion system project. We also separate all plastics, aluminum, paper, and cardboard in back of house spaces for recycling.

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:
All campus dining locations have a robust pre-consumer composting program which includes employee training, educational signage, and waste tracking. Appropriate bins are provided to reduce compost stream contamination.

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:
Employees working in the Residential dining dish rooms are trained on compost procedures and how to properly sort waste that is left on customers’ plates. All food waste and napkins left on plates is composted. Front of house compost bins are also available around campus for anyone to utilize, including customers who take their meals to-go from any dining hall.

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:
Reusable plates, bowls, utensils, and hot/cold cups are used in all Residential dining halls for dine-in meals.

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:
Each Residential student with a meal plan has access to a reusable to-go container, which can be exchanged for a clean and sanitized container after each use. Customers at Retail locations receive their meal in a certified compostable or recyclable container depending on location and type of meal ordered.

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:
Discounts are offered to customers who bring reusable mugs to campus coffee locations.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
The Western Washington Dining team offers a wide variety of Sustainability and Health & Wellness themed programs and events throughout the academic year. The Chef Spotlight program highlights recipes developed by Aramark chefs with unique and diverse backgrounds, expanding the number of culturally diverse options in our locations to meet the growing demand of our campus community. “Empowering Healthy Consumers” is a key priority of our Sustainability plan, so we have implemented a number of events with a Health & Wellness focus, such as “Dine with the Dietician,” “Nutrition 101,” and “Take 15.” In addition to physical wellness, these events prioritize mental wellness and give students ideas and tools for managing stress. Finally, our Regional support team works together to plan interactive pop-up events around Earth Day, National Nutrition Month, and more.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
http://wwu.campusdish.com/sustainability.aspx

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