Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.42
Liaison Kate Witte
Submission Date May 25, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Keene State College
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.75 / 2.00 Josef Quirinale
General Manager
Dining Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a published sustainable dining policy?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable dining policy:

All of the serving platforms in Resident Dining offer meatless alternatives. Tofu is always available as an option at the stir fry station. Rice and soy milks are available as milk alternatives and vegan burgers are available at the grill along with sauteed mushrooms and vegetables. The main servery line always has a vegetarian entree option.
The retail servery offers sushi, predominantly vegetable based, at the Theme Station.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor source food from a campus garden or farm?:
No

A brief description of the program to source food from a campus garden or farm:
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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?:
No

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

A station in resident dining offers vegan options at lunch and dinner daily. The vegan dining station (Valley Vegan has been a part of the new dining commons since its opening in 2005. The popularity of the offerings and the number of student vegans has increased over the past several years. There are also vegan worthy options in the rest of the dining commons for many of the meals offered each week. Currently, the Valley Vegan is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. There are always vegan choices available for breakfast in the dining commons.


Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events (e.g. Meatless Mondays)?:
No

A brief description of the low impact dining events:
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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:

A biannual "Localvore Lunch" is presented with food ingredients sourced from local farms.


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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
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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:

Signage and other educational materials provided by Sodexo explain the benefits of reducing meat consumption. Food is clearly labeled as vegan or vegetarian. Our online dining menu also denotes vegan, vegetarian and mindful options, as well nutrition information. Our staff is also trained to give suggestions for vegetarian, vegan and allergen-free food. The Mindful program by Sodexo includes menu labeling, the ability to scan QR/bar codes to look up nutritional information, integration of FitBits which work with MyFitnessPal, and the Sodexo recipes being loaded in to the MyFitnessPal database. These all help promote healthy eating and lifestyles.


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:

Dining Services works with the President's Council for a Sustainable Future, the Office of Sustainablity, Eco-Reps programs, and ROCKS staff on topics such as local foods, reduction of pre- & post-consumer food waste, and composting (pre- & post-consumer).


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:

Sodexo at Keene State College has achieved Gold status for Sodexo's Mindful Certification. In addition we are a "flagship" location for Sodexo's Global Chef 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:

We participate in the EPA's Food Recovery Challenge, and Weigh the Waste program.


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:

Keene State College has implemented trayless dining and the utilization of compostable to-go containers. In addition, all catered events use greenware/compostable goods for food delivery. Sodexo kitchen staff also make note of unpopular food items and then reduces the amount of that food that is made or removes it from the menu.


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:

The dining commons frequently donates food from the coolers at the end of every semester to local food kitchens and collaborates with the campus community to collect and donate Thanksgiving meals and funds to local food kitchen. Our campus recycling program collects food during resident move-outs and donates it to local food kitchens and shelters. Other food is donated by the dining services program or recycling program throughout the semester.


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:

Pre-consumer (kitchen scraps) are composted on campus. Cooking oil is sold and then used to fuel the campus heat plant.


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:

Pre-consumer food waste is collected weekdays by the recycling program. It is mixed with leaves and other organic material by Grounds staff and used as a soil amendment on campus.


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:

At this time, trials and research have been completed and we are awaiting financing for equipment purchases.


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:

China and durable service ware is provided in resident dining rooms.


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:

No on-site composting program currently exists. Greenware (compostable) is provided in retail, catering and resident to-go service areas.


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:

We offer a reusable mug refill discount for coffee and hot beverage purchases.


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:

We utilize “just ask” for a sample and "take less and waste less" prompting students to think critically about what and how much they are going to eat. When recycling staff weighs the waste, that’s an awareness-building vehicle helping our community to focus on what we are doing when we waste food. Twice a semester we display a “waste buffet” of all the untouched food that students leave on their plates when they bring them to the dish return. We also built a pile of “waste” in the DC represented by a collection of boxes that represented the amount of waste for a particular day. Every day we added boxes so the students could see how much their community wasted in the course of a week. We also (student driven) created a representation in fresh fruit of the amount of food thrown out after one meal (students always want more fresh fruit).
We have resorted to plating smaller portions for certain meals.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.keenestatedining.com/locations_zorn.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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.