Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	71.36
Liaison	Michael Chapman
Submission Date	Sept. 20, 2023

STARS v2.2

Nova Scotia Community College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	1.88 / 2.00	Martha MacGowan Project Assistant- Sustainability Facilities & Engineering

"---" 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?:

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?:

Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:

In partnership with many of our campus caterers across the province, NSCC held a week-long event focusing on SDG 2, zero hunger. This educational campaign was open to all students, and our caterers created $5 meals and offered them all week. NSCC advertised the meals on campus with informational posters. Concurrent with this event, the Sustainability team hosted a webinar discussing student food insecurity and what the College is doing to help.

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:

Chartwells, our largest caterer supports a local coffee roasting company called Just Us!. Just Us! is an SME with 50 employees, 15 of which are owners. It is based out of Wolfville, Nova Scotia and all of its products are fairtrade and organic. Chartwell's has a Just Us! cafe in our largest campus, the Ivany Campus, and sells their coffee at all their NSCC locations.

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

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:

All our campuses promote vegetarian and/or vegan options with daily signage.

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:

All campuses at NSCC offer daily vegan choices, vegan soups, salads, stir-fry bars or a hot menu item on the grill menu.

Individually packaged products such as salads are labelled as vegan or vegetarian.

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:

The College showcases and educates cafeteria customers about low-impact food choices and sustainability using labelling and signage. For example, many of our campuses have a "take a mug, leave a mug" program where the College aims to reduce the number of disposable coffee cups used. The cafeteria offers ceramic coffee mugs, and the signage states that the customer is welcome to use a mug and is to return it when finished. We also offer a reusable mug discount for beverage purchases. This discount is advertised on the "take a mug" signage and demonstrates our commitment to waste reduction.

NSCC also has comprehensive waste sorting signage in all of our cafeterias with photos to assist customers in proper sorting.

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:

Waste diversion and reduction are tracked annually to ensure progress. The NSCC conducts waste audits at every campus once a semester. The on-site caterer must participate and provide waste to be analyzed from their daily operations. All landfill, recyclable, and compostable waste is assessed and compared to previous years in the audits. After each report is complete, the waste auditor meets with individual caterers at each campus and discusses areas of potential improvement. The waste auditor also assists with training or any required changes to ensure that waste is efficiently diverted and reduced.

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:

NSCC caterers do not offer trays to patrons unless requested for accessibility reasons.

Food donation

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:

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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?:

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:

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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:

All of the NSCC campuses have a composting program, and "pre-consumer" composted waste is picked up regularly by a waste management contractor.

All NSCC campuses follow the provincial-wide green bin program, where all food waste is collected separately and composted by the municipality.

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:

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:

Many NSCC campuses use reusable dishware and cutlery for "dine-in" meals. Patrons are offered stainless steel cutlery and reusable dishware when eating in the cafeterias.

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:

Many NSCC campuses use compostable plates, napkins and to-go containers in the cafeterias. This is standard practice with the various caterers at each campus. Containers are made of compostable cardboard material.

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?:

Yes

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

All NSCC campuses offer discounts (10- 40¢) when customers use their reusable mugs when purchasing beverages.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:

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Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:

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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.