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Food

Dinning's Sustainability Webpage

Goal

Educate customers to enhance sustainability of our food resources and minimize waste.

Objectives

  • Develop zero-waste action plan by end of Q4 2009
    • Identify resources needed to develop and implement the plan starting as soon as possible
    • Purchase locally grown and regional produce whenever possible
    • Set up an internal ordering system that favors local vendors by utilizing a produce calendar by December 2008
    • Create a simple way to track where produce is grown that is not a burden to the production team
    • Focus on an initial goal of 35% local produce purchasing
    • Include private herb garden in totals for “local produce usage pre-consumer composting of ‘approved’ goods
    • Reduce disposable waste to 2% of sales for the 08-09 school year
  • Design an internal system that results in a 95% reduction in waste
  • Provide objective, specific education to customers to promote healthy living and sustainability — specific to portion control, waste management, and buying local

Achievements

Promote Healthy Living and Sustainability
  • Created nutritional labels for more than 80% of our in-house recipes and working on the remaining 20%
  • Working with UCM HEROES to educate customers on how to create a healthy meal at the DC
Purchase Locally Grown and Regional Goods
  • Produced a “Quick and Dirty” form for establishing local growers as vendors, with the help of Purchasing
  • Working with Madera Produce to purchase local produce, alleviating small-drop sizes as a potential hindrance to purchasing produce from local growers
  • Using Shasky Farms as a purchasing hub to purchase produce from small growers without an upcharge

What's Happening

Promote Healthy Living and Sustainability
  • Creating nutritional labels for the remaining 20% of in-house recipes that do not currently have labels
  • Considering the implementation of the “How much Sugar in is my...?” campaign, with photos of food items with sugar cubes stacked next to illustrate sugar levels
Purchase Locally Grown and Regional Goods
  • Creating a produce shell aimed at utilizing local goods when in season
95% Compost and 2% Disposables
  • Revamping compost training with signage and added to student employee orientation
  • Creating a committee to develop a marketing plan aimed at encouraging dining-in, with a long-term goal of eliminating take-out
  • A revised, flat rate of $0.35 for all take out orders
  • Professional signage at the trayveyers that clearly indicates waste streams
  • A “You Wasted This” campaign aimed to compare 19 meals of disposables per week versus using china
  • Working with Housing to purchase 1,200 reusable mugs for on-campus freshman and offer a refill incentive
  • Just added TV’s to the Lakeview Dining Room and looking into furniture to create an atmosphere that encourages in-house dining
  • Considering the implementation of "Wasteless Wednesdays" — offering dine-in service only on Wednesdays

Contact Information

Jason Souza
General Manager of Dining Services
T: (209) 228-3463