Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.55
Liaison Susan Powers
Submission Date Feb. 22, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Clarkson University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Alex French
Sustainability Coordinator
ISE
"---" 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:
From Aramark: We’re a global company that touches millions of people’s lives every day, and it’s important to minimize environmental impacts in our operations and in our communities. Through Green Thread, our environmental sustainability platform, we weave environmental sustainability into everything we do, making progress every day on our commitment to responsible sourcing, waste minimization, efficient operations, and transportation management. Our approach is two-fold: we constantly seek to improve our own practices, and we also offer our expertise to find practical solutions for thousands of our clients worldwide. But we don’t stop there. We measure the impact of our work and hold ourselves accountable to always do better.

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:
Chef Kyle plants herbs in our campus garden to use in catering events. He's also used bok choy, squash, etc. This is a small garden so not a significant amount of food.

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:
The ISE is the drop off point for FieldGoods CSA. We also occasionally distribute a "Local Food Guide" to faculty and staff. The guide is developed by a local nonprofit called Gardenshare.

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:
We provide vegan options with complete-protein at every dining hall for each meal. Seitan, tofu, beans, grains, etc are available. The Student Center and Ross Brooks dining location each have a dedicated vegetarian station.

Low-Impact Dining Events 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events:
Meatless Monday is promoted at Ross Brooks (our main eat-in dining area). We participated in world vegan day and national vegetarian day. For these types of events we convert the international grill station into a vegan station.

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:
These are not regular occasions. 2 years ago we had a local food themed dinner for Thanksgiving at Ross-Brooks dining hall. Our Garden Club has worked with our catering department to organize harvest dinners each year (3 years in a row).

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:
The Adirondack Grill in our Cheel dining area exclusively offers local beef and chicken. They occasionally use other local food products as well.

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:
Our online campus menu highlights all meal options that are vegan, vegetarian, or "Plant Forward." It also let's students know about local food options at the Adirondack Grill.

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:
Occasional tabling event outside of the Servery with free samples to promote vegan and local food options.

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:
Eating Healthy Program: This informs customers about healthy eating options and information on individual products in Ross Brooks Dining Hall. Our Campus Dish (online portal) provides nutritional information for Ross Brooks meals daily. Fit for Life : This program offers a healthy dining option each Friday at Ross Brooks. Cultural Themed Meals: We have an "International Station" at the servery. We hold occassional themed meals at Roos Brooks (last year these were happening monthly). These included meals that would be requested by campus cultural clubs and promoted through the campus.

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:
We use LeanPath to track and decrease food cost (a monitoring system for pre-consumer food waste). All pre-consumer food waste from our Cheel dining hall is sent to the campus anaerobic digester.

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 don't have any trays on campus

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:
Food inventory at the end of the semester is donated to local food pantries

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 divert all pre consumer food waste from Cheel to our Anaerobic Digester. We also divert some apartment and department post-consumer waste to the digester. In the past few years we have diverted pre-consumer food waste from dining halls to the digester but we are restructuring how we handle this right now.

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:
Pre consumer waste is collected in two of our main dining facilities and feed to an anaerobic digester (~200 lb/day)

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:
We collect post consumer food waste from apartments and academic departments that opt into the program. Sustainability interns pick up the food waste and feed it to the anaerobic digester weekly. The primary dining contractor does not have a post-consumer composting program

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 ware is offered in our two largest dining areas. Reusable ware is almost exclusively used at our Ross-Brooks Dining Hall. In the Student Center Servery customers are offered food on a plate or in a disposable, compostable to-go box. Reusables are not offered on Main Street (Cheel dining area) or other smaller stations/cafes.

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)?:
No

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
We purchase compostable containers but we currently do not have a composting program. We have been working with the village of Potsdam to design a community composting system and hope this will start soon.

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:
Consumers get $0.20 off for using a reusable mug.

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)?:
No

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
N/A

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://clarkson.campusdish.com/en

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