Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 69.67
Liaison Julie Newman
Submission Date Sept. 30, 2021

STARS v2.2

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.80 / 2.00 MIT Office of Sustainability
Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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?:
No

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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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:
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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:
Bon Appetit at MIT, along with the company at large, purchases 20 percent of all ingredients from a list of local farm to fork vendors who must gross 5 million dollars or less in annual sales for produce or account for less than 1% of the industry's annual sales when it comes to meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, or cheese.

We view our procurement spend as a vehicle for amplifying our core values of inclusion and equity, and pursue these goals through our Locally Crafted program. Locally Crafted, part of our Farm to Fork local purchasing program, entails working with local artisans to support socially and environmentally responsible practices through community entrepreneurship. Locally Crafted vendors must meet at least two attributes out of a set of criteria in order to qualify for the program. Among these criteria are: being a business that is majority minority run, woman-owned and controlled, or actively provides job opportunities to a disadvantaged population. At MIT, we partner with minority-owned, 21st Century Foods which provides tofu to our kitchens. We also regularly work with Sweet Without Wheat, a women-owned gluten-free provider that allows us to meet the needs of students with dietary restrictions.

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
20

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:
MIT Dining offers a number of low impact dining events, including Earth Week, an Annual Farmworker Awareness Week, Stop Food Waste Day, and an annual Eat Local Challenge.

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:
MIT Dining/Bon Appetit prioritizes plant-based proteins in the cafes and a complete protein vegan option is available to the campus community at every meal served. Bon Appetit communicates vegan options to its guests using the Vegan Circle of Responsibility icon, on both online menus and menus in the café.

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:
MIT Dining/Bon Appetit informs guests about low impact food choices and sustainability practices in many ways. On guest tables and in signs around the cafe, Bon Appetit shares information about pressing sustainability issues and relevant policies, including antibiotics use on animal farms, animal welfare issues, sustainable seafood, and farmworkers rights. Using its Circle of Responsibility (COR) program, Bon Appetit communicates sustainability attributes of ingredients through online and in-café menus. Students can also use core icons such as S and F2F to identify sustainably sourced seafood and local farm to fork vendors.

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:
MIT Dining/Bon Appetit use the "On Track" system to count waste at the pre consumer, and post consumer waste. This breaks down to items like fruit peelings and product that cannot be used again. Then we track food that can be reused like vegetable ends in stock, and use them. We then track food that cannot be used post cooking, which includes burnt food, dropped food etc. The idea being to reduce waste at each level.

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:
Dining halls are trayless in the all-you-care-to-eat café located in campus residential dining halls. All servers are trained in portion control in order to minimize post-consumer food waste.

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:
Daily leftovers are saved and frozen for weekly pick up by a food rescue organization in Cambridge, Mass.

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:
Newport Biodiesel collects leftover cooking oil and converts it to other resources.

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:
The MIT Recycling program manages the collection of pre and post consumer food waste from MIT's dining facilities. Bins for food waste and compostables are placed in every prep and kitchen area of the dining halls and collected by MIT Recycling.

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 MIT Recycling program manages the collection of pre and post consumer food waste from MIT's dining facilities. Bins for food waste and compostables are placed in every dining hall and collected by MIT Recycling.

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:
MIT Dining has reusable silverware and dishes in all 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:
MIT Dining provides green recyclable clamshells for students to sign out.

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?:
No

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
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Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
Sustainability and well-being are at the heart of the MIT Dining/Bon Appetit experience. At MIT, the goal is to provide the students with a culturally diverse array of dining options while maintaining the smallest possible environmental impact. We also consistently use our menus and online resources to educate the student body and staff alike about the interconnectedness between food and sustainability and Bon Appetit's potential to lead by example by participating in a healthier food system.

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://mit.cafebonappetit.com/

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.