| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70.33 |
| Liaison | Enid Cardinal |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2022 |
Rochester Institute of Technology
OP-8: Sustainable Dining
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.80 / 2.00 |
Enid
Cardinal Senior Sustainability Advisor to the President Office of the President |
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?:
A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
The RIT wellness program has partnered with the Good Food Collective to offer a year-round CSA. Members can pick up their weekly shares in the Better Me Wellness office.
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
Located in Global Village, The Market at Global Village is the on-campus destination to purchase food and beverages from around the world including sushi from Hissho Sushi. The Market at Global Village also offers a variety of organic and fair trade grocery and produce items.
https://www.rit.edu/fa/diningservices/market-global-village#1
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?:
A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Dining Services’ unique “Visiting Chef” program, allows the University to feature food from local restaurants during meal service in several of the large dining venues. Through this program more than $900,000 went to 11 different local businesses. The majority of the visiting chefs are small, family businesses, several of which are minority and/or women owned.
Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
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?:
A brief description of the vegan dining program:
All of our dining facilities offer vegan options. Most dining stations have made to order items and include vegan protein and cheese options. As an example, Gracies is RIT's primary location for first year student meals and their menu can be found here: https://www.rit.edu/fa/diningservices/gracies#1
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?:
A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
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:
RIT is a participant of the EPA Food Recovery Challenge, and in fact was an EPA region 2 award recipient in 2015.
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?:
A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
TRAY-LESS FACILITY - Gracie’s, our largest resident dining hall, is a tray-less facility. This initiative is credited with approximately 30% food waste reduction.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
A brief description of the food donation program:
Recover Rochester, a chapter of the Food Recovery Network, works with Dining services to capture and redistribute excess prepared food at the end of every meal service to area meal centers and shelters.
At the end of the year, non perishable food is collected from students moving out of campus residence halls and is donated to the RIT FoodShare program as well as area food banks.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses?:
A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
In addition to the food recovery and donation efforts, the University diverts roughly 1.5 - 2tons of food from the landfill weekly when classes are in session. The materials are taken to an anaerobic digester that in turn produces electricity.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Pre-consumer food waste is captured from 4 of the 6 major dining units on campus.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
Pre and post consumer food waste is captured from Gracies, the largest dining facility on campus.
Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Brick City and Gracies utilize washable ware for dine in meals.
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)?:
A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
The dining operations near the residence halls (Common's, Sol's Underground, and Gracies) all offer a reusable to-go container option. Gracie's dining center, the largest facility on campus, eliminated disposable to-go containers in FY2013, offering reusable to-go containers only. The program has since expanded to Brick City cafe.
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?:
A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Customers using reusable mugs receive a discount on their coffee purchase. In Brick City, disposable containers have a 25 cent charge, as an incentive for customers to use reusable OZZI containers for to go items.
A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.