Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.15
Liaison Rebecca Walker
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Southern Oregon University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 2.00 Roxane Beigel-Coryell
Sustainability & Recycling Coordinator
Facilities Management & Planning
"---" 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:
Section 10 of Southern Oregon University's Green Purchasing Policy states: "a. When purchasing agricultural products, all food contractors shall purchase Oregon-grown products if the products are available and if the vendor can meet the applicable quality standards and pricing requirements. b. All food contractors shall work with their food distributors to purchase a minimum of 15% locally grown products and shall purchase as much local produce and product as possible." Additionally, SOU recently signed a Real Food Challenge, Committing to 20% real food by 2023.

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:
SOU Dining purchases organically grown produce from the Farm at SOU, located less than .25 miles from the main campus dining hall. Each year staff from The Farm at SOU and SOU Dining meet to discuss what kind of produce SOU Dining would like to purchase to help inform The Farm at SOU's growing season. The Farm delivers fresh produce to the campus dining halls each week during the growing season.

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 Farm at SOU has a CSA program that was made available to the general community for the first time in 2018. Previously the program was only open to SOU students, faculty and staff.

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:
Vegetarian and vegan options are offered during all meal periods at both dining halls on campus. Vegetarian and vegan options are identified by labeling on menus. Vegetarian dishes are identified with V and vegan dishes are identified with VG. Franchised locations and retail locations all offer vegetarian options. Campus coffee locations offer vegan options including non-dairy milk selections. The main campus dining hall recently introduced a station called Vege that promotes a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. The Vege station contains only vegetarian and vegan dishes and offers at least one vegan dessert daily.

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:
SOU Dining hosted its first Meatless Monday during Earth Week of 2017. Since then, SOU Dining has offered one Meatless Monday each quarter where the main stations in SOU's primary dining hall have only meatless options available for lunch and dinner. SOU Dining is considering options to expand Meatless Monday by hosting it more frequently.

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:
The Ecology and Sustainability Resource Center hosted its first annual Real Food Banquet to announce SOU's commitment to purchase 20% Real Food by 2023 and to showcase real food. The entire meal was vegan and organic. Sustainability at SOU and SOU Dining also work together to provide a sustainability-themed menu at the annual Sustainability and Service Recognition Ceremony. The event features a vegetarian/vegan menu with local produce.

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 campus retail dining area includes a salad station that features locally grown produce. The main campus dining hall recently introduced a station called Vege that promotes a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. The Vege station contains only vegetarian and vegan dishes and offers at least one vegan dessert daily.

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:
During Meatless Mondays, Sustainability at SOU and SOU Dining place signs throughout the dining hall with information about the environmental and health impacts of eating meat. SOU Dining also showcases the local farms they work with on display screens around the main entrance of the dining hall. SOU Dining also has a dietitian's corner where they display and advertise local products.

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:
SOU Dining's dietitian hosts tabling in the dining hall to teach students the benefits of sustainable food systems.

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:
SOU Dining provides many culturally diverse options in the dining hall to broaden students' understanding of global food cultures and traditions.

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?:
No

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
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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:
Trayless dining is practiced in both campus dining halls. Trays are made available to senior conference groups upon request. Trayless dining on campus conserves water and energy that would otherwise be used for washing trays, reduces use of detergents and reduces food waste by 25%-30% per person. SOU Dining also uses pre-portioned serving vessels at several of the food stations in the main dining hall to reduce post-consumer food waste. In 2019, the dining hall will be utilizing a grant from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to replace existing plates with smaller plates to further prevent 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:
SOU Dining also makes bulk food donations each quarter to ACCESS, a local non-profit organization that provides food assistance to needy families and individuals. Non-perishable food items are donated to the university food pantry, which makes food available to students in need. SOU Dining makes a bi-weekly food donation to the Emergency Food Bank serving Ashland and Talent. During the first term of the school year we have donated over 400lbs of what could have been food waste e.g. Leftover Lasagna, Pork Loins, Roasted Turkey. All retail items including soda and juice are given to them as well when too close to expiration date to sell. We also match up to 100 meals per term with Raiders Helping Raiders.

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:
All of the used cooking oil is picked up by a local company to be converted to biofuels.

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 Landscape Services Department collects pre-consumer waste from the two dining facilities on campus. The pre-consumer waste is composted in open windrows on campus. The finished product is then used as a soil amendment on campus grounds.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
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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:
SOU's LEED Gold Certified Dining Hall uses only reusable service ware for dine in meals. For customers wishing to take their food to-go, a reusable to-go container must be purchased. There is no disposable service ware available in the main dining hall.

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:
SOU Dining offers a reusable container program in the dining hall. The program's goals are to: * Reduce or eliminate excessive disposal containers. * Demonstrate commitment to reduce environmental impact of dining operation. * Reduce waste removal costs for university partners. * Engage student leaders and administrators in environmental awareness. The customer purchases the container from the cashier to use on their next visit to purchase food from the dining hall. The customer rinses the container after use and brings it back on their next visit, and receives a clean container. The container is then washed, rinsed and sanitized and is recirculated for the next customer.

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:
SOU Dining offers a discount of $0.25 at all retail locations for customers who bring reusable beverage containers.

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:
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Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://campus-dining.com/sou/

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.