Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.08
Liaison Andrew Horning
Submission Date June 25, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Michigan
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Kenneth Keeler
Senior Sustainability Rep
Office of Campus Sustainability
"---" 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:
https://dining.umich.edu/about-us/sustainability/

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:
Sales from Campus Farm to MDining began on June 29th 2017 and continue on a weekly basis. Total sales to MDining to date (4-16-18): $34, 858; June 29th to Dec 31st 2017: $24,179; Jan 1 to April 14 2018 $10,679. Sales of fresh greens continued throughout winter, and shall pick up in summer and fall with additional crops like cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, swiss chard and more. In addition we are piloting some light touch processing with Farm to Freezer to allow for greater use of Campus Farm Produce farther into the school year. The goal is to purchase everything that the Campus Farm produces, creating a significant financial partnership.

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:
MFarmers markets are held throughout peak Michigan harvest season (June - October) These markets feature Michigan produce from local farmers and include educational materials to promote healthy and sustainable foods. MHealthy, Student Life, and Michigan Medicine developed this program with the support of Planet Blue/Office of Campus Sustainability. There are a variety of Campus gardens located across campus.

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:
Vegan options are available throughout UM Dining facilities, diners may use the MyNutrition tool to find vegan options. MyNutrition is an online tool that can help you make smart, healthy choices in Michigan's residential dining halls. Use it to: •Select well-balanced meals •See how your food choices measure up nutritionally •Screen dining hall offerings for allergens Special icons are used to denote menu items that qualify as vegetarian, vegan, MHealthy, Halal, or gluten-free. You'll find a key at the top of each MyNutrition page. They are also listed in the lower right corner of each meal planning page. Once you make your choice, only menu items that meet the criteria will be displayed.

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 Mondays have been replaced by Sustainable Mondays which includes education around the benefits of plant based diets- all dining halls. Continue to focus messaging on the benefits of a plant-based diet.

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:
Fall harvest themed meal in dining halls.

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:
Fields cafe represents a sustainability themed food outlet. The retail cafe is run by Michigan Dining and works directly with the campus farm to feature produce that is grown in one of three hoop houses or from the farm.

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:
Information is available during Michigan Dining’s sustainable Mondays program. Students are also informed when food is made with local food and the farmer that supplied it.

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:
U-M has supported the Local Food Summit- a community organized annual food conference and event. Students and staff are encouraged to participate. Student Life Sustainability lead, MDining, UMSFP Program Manager, Campus Farm Manager, Office of Campus Sustainability all partner with sustainable related classes and projects assigned by professors. Many provide a living learning lab within the dining spaces.

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:
Vegan and Vegetarian menus have been developed with student input as well as pop up style restaurants throughout the year in all dining halls to educate and build awareness of sustainable food and the importance of plant based diets. Chef demonstrations are held across campus to educate about healthy eating. Implemented a Global Chef Series, bringing chefs from different backgrounds (India, Japan) and visit local diverse restaurants to train our chefs in preparing more culturally appropriate foods. Have hosted HSUS Vegan training twice and will grow relationship.In addition, we host 4 Farmers’ market on campus in the fall and chef demos is one component. The chefs take fresh produce and offer a tasting as well as recipes to show students how to eat healthy and prepare good food.

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:
U-M follows the EPA's Food recovery pyramid when assessing procedures. Students are informed about the pyramid and why its important. This lead to a long conversation with Food Recovery Network to help them understand why our donations went down as we reduced our source waste. We do not use LeanPath, but track our waste by weight and perform occasional waste audits of our Residential Dining Halls. Recyclemania is a campus wide competition that dining services participate in. We also track reductions in waste and monitor our compost.

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:
MDining has implemented trayless in all units. In addition, plated dining with small plates to reduce food waste has been implemented to allow students portion size control and reduce food waste. If the students want more all they have to do is ask!

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:
A U-M local student chapter of Food Recovery Network has recovered over 27,000 pounds of food from the dining halls since inception 4 years ago. MDining also collaborates with a student-led food pantry (Maize and Blue Cupboard) offered every month throughout the academic year.

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:
Cooking oil is picked up from the dining halls to be recycled for animal feed or biofuel. U-M follows the EPA food recovery pyramid and apply it to operations.

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:
100% pre-consumer composting in all units (Residential Dining Halls, catering and retail)

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:
100% post consumer composting in all units (Residential Dining Halls, catering and retail) including compostable to-go packaging and ‘zero-waste’ catering events.

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:
All dining halls use reusable service ware. If the dishwasher fails, compostable service ware is deployed.

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:
MDining uses certified compostable containers in all food units- Residential Dining, Retail, and Catering.

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:
MDining operations offers a reusable mug discount in all retail cafe and store locations.

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)?:
Yes

A brief description of other dining services materials management initiatives:
MDining worked with prime vendor to reduce of food packaging as well as reduced deliveries from the prime supplier by 50%. Campus farm uses reusable totes for produce deliveries eliminating packaging materials.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://dining.umich.edu/about-us/sustainability/

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.