Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	73.99
Liaison	Mary-Lee Townsend
Submission Date	Oct. 20, 2021

STARS v2.2

Western University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.00 / 2.00	Anne Zok Nutrition Manager Hospitality Services

"---" 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?:

Yes

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:

Annual farmers market (June - November), 40% increase in vendor involvement from previous year, exclusively local.
Sustainability Action Plan:
https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/sustainability_actionplan.pdf?v=07252019

Sustainability Report: https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/sustainabilityreport/sustainabilityreport2018.pdf

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:

Green Leaf Café - Operated by Great Hall Catering, the café has shifted to a veg-centric model where more than half of the menu is plant-based.
https://www.greathallcatering.ca/index.cfm

Argo Tea - Argo Tea has incorporated environmental considerations into all their packaging and brewing practices

Farmer's Fridge - Providing assorted fresh salads made locally

Bento's Sushi - The largest Marine Stewardship Council certified restaurant chain in Canada (also a recognized partner of SeaChoice)

https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/sustainabilityreport/mobile/index.html

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:

SUPPORT FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRIZE: United Way (UW)
Western University is the largest contributor to the Elgin Middlesex UW campaign raising $619,475 in 2019.
Hospitality Services (HS) contributed to its success through various fundraising events:
“Show Your Local Love Fest” – live music, jumbo board games, chalk art and chili and hot chocolate
“Beach Volleyball Tournament” – proceeds coming from registration, silent auction and a 50/50 draw
17th annual “Coffee Day for United Way” – $0.25 from the sale of every large and extra-large coffee is donated to the United Way.

Tim Hortons Camp Day - Selling $2 Campus bracelets in support of this national event that helps support youth through the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps Program.

Middlesex London Food Coalition – Food Recovery Program in partnership with Ark Aide Street Mission (a member of the Coalition), HS provides food donations on a daily basis. Food recovered from events hosted by GHC, as well food from the Residence Dining Halls, are also regularly donated. The Middlesex London Food Policy Council presented HS with the “Food Champion Award” for our efforts in helping to support food-insecurity in the community.

Western Student Groups:
Fair Trade (FT) Western – Donations of FT coffee, chocolate and hot chocolate in celebration of FT Western Week, “Scare them Fair” and “My Fair Valentine”.
Vegan Society – Donations of Vegan Cookies and Vegan Hot Chocolate in support of their Vegan Fair.
EnviroWestern – Prizes and program promotion in support of their annual “Refill to Win” campaign.

SUPPORT FOR DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES INCLUDING SMALL/MEDIUM ENTERPROSES (SME):
Fair Trade Campus Designation - In 2015 Western officially received its Fair Trade campus designation. As a Fair Trade Campus, all our coffee served at non-franchise locations is Fair Trade, and at least 3 Fair Trade teas and 1 Fair Trade chocolate is available wherever such products are sold.
HS also partners with many SME such as Capo Food Limited, Copa di Galato, Fire Roasted Coffee, International Bakery, Petit Paris Creperie, Vijay's Indian Cuisine, Arva Flour Mill, Thornloe cheese Edesia Fine Foods.

(SUSTAINABILITY REPORT) https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/sustainabilityreport/sustainabilityreport2018.pdf (SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN) https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/sustainability_actionplan.pdf?v=07252018

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:

Forward Food Vegan Culinary Training - 2 day, hands-on training for 20 culinary staff. Program sponsored by the humane society.

Plant-forward options & Vegan Menu Options:
Residence Dining - approximately 50% of entrees are vegan. (https://residencedining.uwo.ca/menus/Cycles/3.pdf)
Campus Eateries - see https://eateries.uwo.ca/pdf/Vegan_Options_on_Campus.pdf

Special Events:
Apple Week - local apple featured throughout the menu in each of the 7 residence operations
World Food Day - cooking demonstration in UCC, please see https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/worldfoodday/worldfoodday.pdf
Water Day - UCC in partnership with Envirowestern
Food Support Services - cooking demonstration in the UCC
World Vegetarian Day - Cooking demonstration featuring vegan crepes

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:

Plant-forward options:
Residence Dining - approximately 50% of entrees are vegan. (https://residencedining.uwo.ca/menus/Cycles/3.pdf)
Other vegan options include: Vegan cheese, vegan mayonnaise, vegan yogurt, and vegan baked goods

Campus Eateries:
Green Leaf Café - approximately 50% of lunch buffet options are plant-based. Hospitality Services works closely with Western's Vegan Society on promoting the population and planetary benefits to a plant-based diet.(https://eateries.uwo.ca/pdf/Vegan_Options_on_Campus.pdf)

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:

Vegan options are flagged on the residence dining menu (on-line and at the POS) with a vegan icon.
https://residencedining.uwo.ca/menus/Cycles/3.pdf
https://nutrition.uwo.ca/food_allergy_guide.pdf

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?:

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:

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:

Residence Dining adopted a self-serve, weighed model which allows students to select as much or as little as they like - rather than having to commit to be predetermined portion size. This has resulted in a reduction in post-consumer food waste.
https://residencedining.uwo.ca/menus/Cycles/4.pdf

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:

In partnership with Ark Aide Street Mission (a member of the Middlesex London Food Coalition), HS provides daily food donations. Food recovered from events hosted by GHC, as well, food from the Residence Dining Halls and the Campus Eateries, are also regularly donated. The Middlesex London Food Policy Council presented HS with the “Food Champion Award” for our efforts in helping to support food-insecurity in the community

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:

Western has excelled in its waste reduction strategies with a 50% waste diversion rate; one of the highest in the country when compared to other higher education institutions. Western also partners with Filtafry (An active fryer management service) who filter our oil (increasing usage life) and convert it to biodeisel once the oil has come to the end of its life.

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:

Yes. In all residence operations, Great Hall Catering and in some of the Retail outlets.

Seacliff Energy creates electricity from Western’s organics using anaerobic digestion, and also creates an end product which is used as fertilizer in the agricultural sector.

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:

Yes. In all residence operations, Great Hall Catering and in some of the Retail outlets Seacliff Energy creates electricity from Western’s organics (food scraps and paper take out packaging) using anaerobic digestion, and creates an end product which is used as fertilizer in the agricultural sector.

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:

Residence Dining offers re-usable dishware. This includes dinner plates, side plates, soup bowl, fruit-nappies, tumblers and stainless steel cutlery. GHC - All events at the Great Hall use re-usable dishware/china, Great Hall Catering offers China service upon request.

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:

In 2015 Western introduced the “Choose-to-Reuse” to-go container program enabling students in residence to significantly reduce single-use plastics. This popular program consists of 3 options: a large ecotainer, a small ecotainer and/or a travel mug. Students are provided with a free container voucher during move-in. Other to-go containers are all either recyclable or compostable. https://residencedining.uwo.ca/special.cfm#Reuse

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:

A discount is offered to students purchasing hot beverage in a travel mug. Students are also encouraged to refill their re-usable water bottles at cold filtered water stations in each of the residence dining halls and/or at any of the countless water re-fill stations. Great Hall Catering expands use of infused water dispensers and bulk water to reduce the number of water bottles used on campus.

Optional Fields

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

3,000 FRESH Reward Cards redeemed for a FREE whole fruit or carton of milk incentivizing healthy eating

Awards:
Western Hospitality Services get global recognition for winning the Skal International Sustainability Tourism Award: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Sk-l-Magazine-280-is-out-.html?soid=1116532064274&aid=qCmWASpKuxg (pg 37-38)

Hospitality Services wins NACUFS Gold Award in the Procurement Practices category for on-campus honeybee program
https://news.westernu.ca/2019/06/bee-program-earns-international-competition-gold/
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByqQqFkH_yY/?igshid=8fouihjsvfuz

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

https://hospitalityservices.uwo.ca/sustainability_actionplan.pdf?v=07252018

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

See “Sustainability Action Plan” and “Sustainability Report”

Hospitality Services Sustainability Representative:
Anne Zok (Nutrition manager)
azok@housing.uwo.ca
(519) 661-3855

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.