Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 51.71
Liaison Jeffrey Severin
Submission Date July 17, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Kansas
OP-7: Low Impact Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 3.00 Sheryl Kidwell
Assistant Director
KU Dining
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Percentage of total dining services food purchases comprised of conventionally produced animal products:
36.30

A brief description of the methodology used to track/inventory expenditures on animal products:

Each food /beverage item is coded with a trait(s) that represent sustainable measures: cage/confinement free, fair trade, hormone/antibiotic free, local grown, local processed, made with organic ingredients, organic, and or sustainable verified seafood. Query on the database is made capturing these traits for the date parameter required.


Does the institution offer diverse, complete-protein vegan dining options at all meals in at least one dining facility on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution provide labels and/or signage that distinguishes between vegan, vegetarian (not vegan), and other items?:
Yes

Are the vegan options accessible to all members of the campus community?:
Yes

A brief description of the vegan dining program, including availability, sample menus, signage and any promotional activities (e.g. “Meatless Mondays”):

KU Dining is the exclusive dining department on campus. All of our venues - retail cafés, residential dining centers, grab n' go program, snack shops, catering, and our restaurant - offer a wide variety of vegan and/or vegetarian entrées and side items. Our vegan/vegetarian recipe file comprises 28% of all our recipes. We offer vegan/vegetarian entrées at each of our concepts within the residential dining centers at all meals every day. We provide vegan/vegetarian food options in the retail cafés and on our restaurant menu daily as well. We provide daily options of fresh fruits and vegetables in all locations along with a variety of "non-meat" protein choices.

We also have a healthier options concept called "Better Bites" that provides students with menu selections that meet nutritional requirements set by the American Heart Association. The program is monitored by our staff Registered Dietitian. This fall we opened a new concept the in a recently renovated residential dining center, the “ KYou Zone”, designed , staffed and equipped to serve our students/customers with food allergies and/or special dietary requirements, including Gluten Free/ Vegan & Vegetarian/Kosher menu options.


A brief description of other efforts the institution has made to reduce the impact of its animal-derived food purchases:
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The website URL where information about the vegan dining program is available:
Annual dining services expenditures on food:
6,971,814.52 US/Canadian $

Annual dining services expenditures on conventionally produced animal products:
2,534,175.59 US/Canadian $

Annual dining services expenditures on sustainably produced animal products:
1,246,809.49 US/Canadian $

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.