| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 46.55 |
| Liaison | Keaton Schrank |
| Submission Date | Aug. 16, 2022 |
Westminster University - Utah
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.43 / 2.00 |
Keaton
Schrank Environmental Center Manager Environmental Center |
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?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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 support disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its food and beverage purchasing?:
A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Dining Services purchases some of its meat and produce from small farms in the Salt Lake City area.
Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
Meatless Mondays:
Bon Appetit at Westminster also participates in meatless Monday a 1-2 times per month.
Feast of Five Senses:
The second major low impact dining event that Westminster participates in is the Feast of Five Senses. This is a fundraising dinner which features local food prepared by some of the Salt Lake Valley's finest chefs. The event is a partnership between Westminster College, Bon Appetit, and Slow Food Utah. Funds from the event are utilized to fund Slow Food Utah's micro-grant program which is designed to bolster the local food community in the area. A brief description of the program from Slow Food Utah's webpage is as follows:
"This program was created in order to fill gaps that we see in traditional funding sources for local food-related projects, especially for small-scale food growers and producers, community innovators, and educators. In the past we have funded school gardens, the building of a goat barn, purchase of a tractor, seeds and greenhouse supplies, new baby piglets, and much more. All this is possible with help from our donors and our annual fundraising event, the Feast of Five Senses."
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:
Bon Appetit at Westminster provides at least one vegan option for each meal of the day at at least one of their prepared meal stations. These options will be labeled as vegan.
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Vegan and vegetarian meal options are labeled in the dining hall, and several signs are posted that discuss plant-based protein and responsible food sourcing.
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:
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:
Bon Appetit at Westminster sells food either per meal, or per item. Portioning is controlled by Bon Appetit staff. No items are served in an all-you-can-eat format, and trays are not present in the dining hall.
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:
Westminster college partners with foodrescue.us to send food that would otherwise go to waste to various places in the community with a need.
Foodrescue.us utilizes a mobile application to connect volunteers with vehicles to leftover food in the community. Organizations with a need for food post their needs on the application. Those with surplus food list their surplus on the application, and volunteers pick it up and connect it with those who have posted a 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?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Renegade Oil picks up Westminster's used cooking oil and recycles it locally in Salt Lake City.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Back-of-house food waste is collected by Momentum Recycling's food waste diversion program and taken to a biodigester. Approximately 1200 pounds, on average, is diverted each month.
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:
Bon Appetit provides a full range of dine-in service ware. They provide plates, coffee cups, beverage cups, soup/breakfast bowls, forks, knives, and spoons.
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:
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
Farm Stand:
The Environmental Center has traditionally utilized a farm stand to promote local food and campus food production. A student employee makes a tasty snack from garden produced ingredients and offers that snack to students via an on-campus farm stand. The farm stand also offers free organic produce from our on-campus garden.
Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Note: Westminster had multiple reusable container programs and incentives that were paused indefinitely due to safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: Westminster had multiple reusable container programs and incentives that were paused indefinitely due to safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.