| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.49 |
| Liaison | Lisa Kilgore |
| Submission Date | April 28, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Cornell University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.88 / 2.00 |
Daniel
Dosztan Purchasing Manager SAS Business Service Center |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Part 1: Sustainable Dining Initiatives
Sustainable Dining Policy
No
A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:
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On-Campus Sourcing
Yes
A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
Cornell Dining purchases all of the apples for the dining halls from Cornell Orchards while they are available. They also purchase the majority of milk, cream, ice cream and bulk yogurt from the Cornell Dairy.
Local Community Engagement
Yes
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
Dillman Hill is a student run farm on Campus that offers a CSA program.
Vegan Dining Program
Yes
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
One of Cornell Dining’s top priorities is to offer vegan and vegetarian entrees, sides, soups, and grab-n-go items in all of its dining locations. At each of the ten All You Care to Eat (AYCTE) locations, it is a standard to offer a complete protein vegetarian or vegan entrée and side dish at the hot traditional station. Some examples of the vegan options include sweet potato cashew patties, tofu and broccoli stir fry, tempeh scaloppini, and quinoa stuffed peppers. In addition to the hot traditional stations at the AYCTE locations, there is always a vegan or vegetarian soup, and vegan options at the salad bar, grill, and deli including hummus, grilled portobello mushroom, and tomato masala soup. Vegan pizzas are highlighted weekly at North Star dining and vegan desserts are served daily, including vegan pies, vegan cake, vegan puddings, and house made vegan cookies.
AYCTE locations offer soy, rice, and almond milk as dairy free alternatives.
Cornell Dining also has over 20 retail locations. Each location boasts different vegan items on the menu. In the Fall 2014 semester, vegan pizzas, vegan quesadillas, and vegan pasta bakes have been added to menus at three different retail locations.
Additionally, Cornell Dining has one retail location, One World Café, where the entire menu offers only vegetarian or vegan options. Examples of vegan options sold at retail operations include: Suzie’s Reuben (a vegan sandwich made with vegan cheese and locally produced seitan), the Atrium Vegetable Wrap (local tofu with a carrot, edamame, and cucumber salad on a wrap) and Poblano Small Planet Burger.
Cornell Dining also offers a number of healthy "grain bars" which over a wide variety of whole grains and legumes. Additionally, this semester, whole grains salads, including vegan friendly quinoa, and farro, wheatberries, and bulgur are prepared in vegan and vegetarian ways and sold in grab and go cups at different coffee shops and retail locations.
At Jansen’s Market, one of Cornell Dining’s convenience stores, a Peanut Butter Sandwich Bar is featured. Customers can make their own sandwich with fresh peanut butter, ground on site, with various "toppings" and whole grain bread.
Low-Impact Dining Events
No
A brief description of the low impact dining events:
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Sustainability-Themed Meals
Yes
A brief description of the sustainability-themed meals:
Each Fall there are several local harvest dinners across campus.
Sustainability-Themed Outlet
No
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
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Labeling and Signage
Yes
A brief description of the sustainability labeling and signage in dining halls:
Marketing provides signage and labeling in Dining Halls that identify many different sustainability practices such as locally raised/sourced, reducing water consumption, menus of change etc.
Outreach and Education
Yes
A brief description of the outreach efforts to support learning and research about sustainable food systems:
Cornell works with internal Food Focus Team, peer institutions. student groups and vendors to research sustainable food systems.
Other Initiatives
Yes
A brief description of the other sustainability-related dining initiatives:
Cornell Dining is part of the Menus of Change that has been adapted by many universities. They offer culturally diverse options at most of their locations on campus.
Part 2: Food and Dining Waste
Food Recovery Program
No
A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Cornell Dining offers a “cook on demand” option, where students can request meals and watch as their food is prepared. For example, some All You Care to Eat Dining Facilities are equiped with an omelet bar, where students choose their own ingredients prior to the omelet’s creation. A similar program is used to make sandwiches, burritos, quesadillas, and salads in Dining’s retail locations.
Trayless Dining and Portion Modifications
Yes
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
Cornell Dining introduced trayless dining in 2008 to reduce food waste and to conserve electricity and water. Currently nine of the ten All You Care to Eat Dining Facilities practice trayless dining.
Trayless dining has been implemented at all but one of Dining’s retail locations.
Cornell Dining offers discounts for hot beverage drinks where the patron brings a reusable mug.
Food Donation
Yes
A brief description of the food donation program:
Cornell Dining regularly donates produce and dairy products to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier which services 7 counties in the region. Cornell Dining also works with the Food Recovery Network to donate prepared, perishable food to Loaves and Fishes and other food banks in the Finger Lakes Region.
Cornell University Farms and the Cornell University Orchards donate large amounts of food. However, as this food is grown outside of the STARS institutional boundary the tonnages are not included in the waste diversion metrics.
Most of Cornell's donated produce from University farms is grown off-campus, predominately at the Freeville Farm and now exceed well over 1-million pounds (article on this program at http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2012/10/volunteers-harvest-spuds-food-bank). Donations from our “on campus” farm locations are minimal as the crops are more agronomic (corn-soybean-wheat) and less fresh market in nature.
Additionally, donations are made from the Cornell Orchards. While some of the food is grown within the Cornell STARS boundary, most is grown at the Geneva, NY campus. In the 2013-14 academic year the Orchards donated 407.3 bushels of apples and 103.5 gallons of cider, 8 quarts of plums, 8 quarts of donut peaches, 139.39 lbs. of peaches and 1 bushel of pears.
Food Materials Diversion
Yes
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Both pre and post consumer food waste is diverted to Farm Services to be composted. 100 % of used fryer oil is sold to an outside firm to be converted to bio-diesel.
Composting
Yes
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
All of Cornell Dining’s pre-consumer food waste is collected in every Dining unit and composted by one of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES) farms, Farm Services. Pre-consumer composting includes all food waste and plant-based products being composted during preparation and cooking before being served to customers, including all produce, dairy, meat trim loss, and any other food products that would not be eaten or salvaged.
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:
The University’s compost facility is operated by CUAES Farm Services. Farm services collects about 837 tons of food scraps and other compostables from 15 dining hall on campus.
Farm Services handles 57 waste streams across campus and composts about 7406 tons of waste annually. In addition to food waste composting, 6377 tons of animal manure and bedding from the School of Veterinary Medicine, the Cornell Dairy program and other animal facilities on campus, and 217 tons of plant material and soil from greenhouses and other plant growth operations on campus are composted at the facility.
Dine-In Service Ware
Yes
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Cornell Dining utilizes reusable flatware, plates, bowls, cups, and mugs in all "all you can eat" dining areas. In all locations where "to go" meals are served, Cornell Dining, Cornell Catering, and the Statler Hotel dining facilities, as well as most contracted dining vendors utilize compostable flatware and containers (e.g., paper boxes, compostable sandwich wrappings, paper cookie wraps, compostable salad bowls, etc.). Compost is collected widely across campus and processed on campus at an industrial size compost facility.
Take-Away Materials
Yes
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
All beverage cups and lids utilized by Cornell Dining, and the majority of contracted vendors, utilize compostable beverage cups and lids. Additionally all opportunities to purchase compostable "to go" containers are made (eg. paper boxes, compostable sandwich wrappings, paper cookie wraps, compostable salad bowls, etc.). Compost is collected widely across campus and processed on campus at an industrial size compost facility.
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:
Cornell Dining sells reusable mugs at four retail locations. Cornell Dining has a discount refill program. A customer can bring in any reusable mug and get a 45-cent discount per drink. At one retail unit (Martha’s Café), Dining offers a "free coffee" program 5 mornings a week. Most student customers bring their own mugs to this coffee stand, rather than paying 25 cents for a cup.
The Johnson Graduate School of Management has a daily coffee hour where students may obtain coffee at no charge with a reusable mug (disposable cups are not offered - students wishing to participate without a mug need to purchase a disposable cup from the nearby dining facility).
Other Materials Management Initiatives
Yes
A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
Shrink wrap that is used by our vendors for shipping is returned to the vendor for recycling.
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
It is important to note that Cornell gets the majority of it's dairy products from the Cornell Dairy plant that is part of its Campus. Nearly all of the milk, ice cream and bulk yogurt are produced right at Cornell.
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.