University of Virginia
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Through Green Thread, our environmental sustainability platform, we bring innovative and efficient solutions to life. We help our employees and customers minimize environmental impacts in our operations and in our communities. We place special emphasis on responsible sourcing, waste minimization, efficient operations, and transportation management. But we don’t stop there. We measure our impact and hold ourselves accountable to continuously improve. Resourcing RESPONSIBLE SOURCING: We purchase local, seasonal and responsibly raised, grown and sourced products whenever possible. We firmly believe responsible sourcing has a direct impact on our local and global economies, our health and wellness and the environment. With every purchase we engage suppliers and partners in an effort to source environmentally and socially responsible products. Waste WASTE MINIMIZATION: We minimize our waste by reducing, reusing and recycling. We minimize our footprint through our waste reduction efforts. Across our operations, we have established practices from initial purchase to final waste disposal that decrease the overall cost of waste both environmentally and financially. Operations EFFICIENT OPERATIONS: We implement practices to conserve natural resources and ensure operational efficiencies. Fueled by the understanding that our day-to-day actions have an impact, we work closely with our clients to conserve energy and water. Transportation TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT: We ensure our transportation programs reduce fuel usage and emissions. Transportation provides a vital circulation system that enables delivery of the highest quality product and service. With our vehicle fleet of thousands, it’s essential for us to minimize our use of fossil fuels and generation of emissions. More information: https://virginia.campusdish.com/Sustainability/GreenThread.aspx

MORVEN KITCHEN GARDEN Morven Kitchen Garden is a one acre student-run farm located just south of Charlottesville and UVa Grounds. Their mission is to provide student leadership opportunities in sustainable market farming, inspire community participation in local food systems, and to offer an outdoor laboratory for agricultural research. In October 2017, Morven Kitchen Garden completed its USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification, allowing UVA Dining (run by Aramark) to source local food from them. To date, we've served over 500 pounds of squash in UVA dining rooms with plans to increase the amount of food sourced locally from the Morven Kitchen Garden. UVA COMMUNITY GARDEN Started by a student initiative, the University of Virginia Community Garden strives to be a space for both Charlottesville and the University to learn more about organic gardening. Keeping with the agricultural traditions of the University’s founder, Thomas Jefferson, the garden is a place to foster the growth of community as well as food. The objectives of this garden are as follows: To provide a valuable educational resource to UVa students, faculty, and staff; To serve as a resource and link to the greater Charlottesville community; To model the most economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable farming practices available to us, while preserving an integral part of the landscape and the local economy; To provide UVa students, faculty, and staff with the opportunities to work on a farm and to learn the skills needed to produce food, experiencing its joys and challenges; and To make UVa a model of organic gardening and sustainability https://uvagarden.wordpress.com/ Additionally, a student-designed and built hydroponics table was installed in O'Hill dining hall in Spring 2017 and will provide fresh herbs and greens for the dining halls.

U.Va Green Dining began its Farmers Market for Earth Week 2017 and continues to host a market each semester. The market brings together between 12-20 vendors to campus, allowing students to use their meal plan to purchase local produce and grocery items and learn about their local food system. Greens to Grounds. U.Va. Dining supports Greens to Grounds, a student-run CSA that allows U.Va. students to purchase fresh, locally grown food with Plus Dollars. Boxes are prepared with the student in mind– to minimize cooking and maximize freshness! Students may participate for one week, or for the entire semester. UVA Dining also partners with the area non-profit Local Food Hub to increase our local food options in residential dining rooms. The Local Food Hub is a distribution organization that works with Central Virginia family farms to aggregate their produce and make it available to large institutional buyers such as U.Va. The Local Food Hub has supplied U.Va. Dining with a variety of food items including asparagus, apples, mushrooms, spinach, delicata, butternut, and acorn squash. This partnership has celebrated a number of events and occasions together, such as the Earth Day Farm to Fork meal, Virginia Farm to School Week, Meat Free Mondays, and much more. The Local Food Hub also stands behind U.Va. Dining’s goal of providing educational opportunities to university students and the community by hosting several U.Va. Dining-sponsored tours of their educational farm.

There is a designated vegan/vegetarian station at each residential dining hall, for all lunch and dinner services. Vegetarian items and vegan items are both identifiable. Each dining hall participates in a Meat Free Monday program, in addition to vegetarian and vegan offerings.

In addition to the daily vegan and vegetarian offerings, each dining room participates in a rotating Meat-Free Monday and All-Vegetarian theme meal each semester.

UVA Dining holds sustainability-themed meals throughout the year. Events have included: multiple Vegetarian Theme meals, a Farm to Fork meal, a Go Green Vegetarian Meal, Earth Day at O'Hill, Sustainable Spuds, and more. https://www.facebook.com/pg/uvadining/events

The Fine Arts Cafe, located in UVA's College of Architecture, is a proprietary sustainability-themed cafe. The cafe received 2 Star Green Restaurant Certification in 2017 and the menu features organic and local items every day, supported by Local Food Hub.

Yes, Green Dining displays sustainability information on table cards on in the dining halls, as well as signage.

U.Va. Dining works seamlessly with the University community in all endeavors related to sustainability. We support U.Va. Recycling, U.Va. Environmental Health & Safety, U.Va. Sustainability at Facilities Management, and student groups related to conservation. The Green Dining Working Group is s student-focused group run through UVA Dining that meets every 3-4 weeks during the academic school year to launch new programs, promote sustainable food, and challenge each other. The Sustainable Food Strategy Task Force drives the Food Action Plan through UVA's Sustainability Plan. The UVA Food Collaborative

Through U.Va. Dining’s ongoing commitment to reducing our environmental impact, three of our locations have achieved Green Restaurant Certification. O’Hill Dining Room and Fresh Food Company (Newcomb Hall) have both received a 3 star certification for ongoing commitments to purchasing local and sustainable food and beverages, comprehensive waste reduction and diversion programs, incentives for reusable to-go containers and mugs, and efficient energy and water appliances throughout the building. Fine Arts Café – our flagship sustainability café, located in the School of Architecture – achieved a 2 Star Certification for its plant-based menu featuring local and organic ingredients, comprehensive waste reduction and diversion programs including recycling, composting and a free reusable to-go program, as well as efficient energy and water appliances throughout the café.

Supported by the EPA's WasteWise program, Game Day Challenge is a nationwide competition for colleges and universities to promote waste reduction at their home football games. Each fall at the Homecoming Game, U.Va. Dining, the Department of Athletics, and U.Va. Sustainability partner to collect and divert food waste from concessions and discarded recyclables. Be sure to keep an eye out for our Game Day Challenge Volunteers at Homecoming, and help us recycle to win!

Trays were removed from residential dining halls at the start of the 2008 - 2009 academic year and trayless dining is still in place today.

The UVa chapter of the national Campus Kitchens Project is one of the latest to start at colleges and universities around the country in order to feed the underserved members of a particular community and also prevent food from ending up as landfill waste. Students take unused portions of dining hall food (that has been deemed safe by the health inspector), prepare it as necessary in Runk Dining Hall's kitchen, and serve members of the Charlottesville community throughout the week at the Salvation Army (Sundays, 80-100meals), Hope House (Tuesdays, 12 meals), and On Our Own (Wednesdays 30-40 meals). Hope House is a transitional housing apartment complex for four formerly homeless families, and On Our Own is a mental health and addiction support center. CKP at UVa also gets food donations from the Local Food Hub every Friday, in exchange for student volunteers helping them label/organize produce. Also, service fraternity APO has several food diversion pick-ups from places around Grounds and Charlottesville. This past semester the students had a Friday afternoon pick-up from Greenberry's Cafe locations at Clark and Alderman libraries. The food goes to Salvation Army's CavFood program and gets distributed to those staying at the Salvation Army and those who come just for their meals. The food usually goes to help serve several hundred people and usually represents around a hundred dollars worth from Greenberry's and around 500$ worth of food from Whole Foods (a supplemental donation spot).

Recycling 100% of cooking oil. U.Va. Dining partners with Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions to recycle our used fryer oil into biodiesel.

Pre-consumer food waste from Shea House, West Range, The Castle, the Fine Arts Café, all UVA dining facilities, Darden, and the Medical Center is sent to Black Bear Composting in Crimora, VA. Combined, these efforts divert over 12 tons of food waste from the landfill every single week.

Pre-consumer food waste from Shea House, West Range, The Castle, the Fine Arts Café, all UVA dining facilities, Darden, and the Medical Center is sent to Black Bear Composting in Crimora, VA. Combined, these efforts divert over 12 tons of food waste from the landfill every single week.

Yes - reusable plates and utensils are used for all dine-in meals.

Reusable To-Go Container Program. Reusable. Reliable. Ready to go! U.Va. Dining offers a free, convenient way to take food on the go while keeping our environmental footprint small. Students can sign up for a free reusable to-go container with any residential dining cashier. Return the box after use and Dining washes and sanitizes it with our industrial dishwashers! Hundreds of students use their reusable to-go box regularly, keeping thousands of disposable boxes out of the landfill each year. Cupanion: Our Reusable Mug Rewards Program. U.Va. Dining partnered with the Office for Sustainability in Fall 2015 to launch Cupanion, a reusable rewards program that aims to reduce waste across grounds. Built into a mobile app that tracks reuse for the University, the Cupanion app distributes rewards for using your own reusable cup or mug in locations across grounds like Starbucks, Greenberry's, and Argo Tea. Simply download the Cupanion app, scan the Cupanion barcodes at locations with your phone when using your reusable at our locations, and watch the rewards add up!

Dining offers a reusable mug punch card whereby one can bring one's reusable mug to buy drip coffee, tea, or soda at any on-Grounds retail location and be eligible for two free drinks after eight purchases. Additionally, if one is not participating in the punch card program, one can bring in his/her reusable mug and be charged for the consecutively smaller size (for example, if a student/staff/faculty member brings in a 12 oz. mug [medium size], he or she will be charged for a small size).

Through U.Va. Dining’s ongoing commitment to reducing our environmental impact, three of our locations have achieved Green Restaurant Certification, including comprehensive waste reduction and lean back-of house waste reduction initiatives. O’Hill Dining Room and Fresh Food Company (Newcomb Hall) have received a 3 star certification for ongoing commitments to purchasing local and sustainable food and beverages, comprehensive waste reduction and diversion programs, incentives for reusable to-go containers and mugs, and efficient energy and water appliances throughout the building. Fine Arts Café – our flagship sustainability café, located in the School of Architecture – achieved a 2 Star Certification for its plant-based menu featuring local and organic ingredients, comprehensive waste reduction and diversion programs including recycling, composting and a free reusable to-go program, as well as efficient energy and water appliances throughout the café.