Food & Dining
Introduction
Modern industrial food production often has deleterious environmental and social impacts. Institutions can use their food purchases to support their local economies; encourage safe, environmentally friendly and humane farming methods; and help eliminate unsafe working conditions and alleviate poverty for farmers. These actions help reduce environmental impacts, preserve regional farmland, improve local food security, and support fair and resilient food systems. Dining services can also support sustainable food systems by preventing food waste and diverting food materials from the waste stream, by making low impact dining options available, and by educating its customers about more sustainable options and practices.
Featured Resources
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From contracts to culture: Exploring how to leverage local, sustainable food purchasing by institutions for food systems change
- Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (ON)
In recent years, certain hospitals, schools, and campuses across Canada have shown that they can transform their practices to serve more local and sustainable food. These changes have often been ...
- Posted March 6, 2019
- Publications
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Self-operated vs. corporate contract: A study of food procurement at two universities in Manitoba
- University of Manitoba (MB)
- University of Waterloo (ON)
Public institutions are increasingly being pressured to demonstrate how they are meeting their responsibilities and obligations to sustainability. Yet there is little academic research on food procurement at universities in ...
- Posted March 6, 2019
- Publications
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Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems (MS)
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)
Learn online and earn your Master of Science (M.S.) in Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Gain expertise in sustainable food systems and innovative ...
- Posted Feb. 13, 2019
- Academic Programs
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Sustainable Food and Nutrition (BA)
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)
Students can share their passion for food from farm-to-fork (food production through consumption) and working on food-related issues at a community, national or international level in the sustainable food and ...
- Posted Feb. 13, 2019
- Academic Programs
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Farming & Food Systems Focus (BA in Human Ecology)
- College of the Atlantic (ME)
Understanding food and its production requires insights from history, anthropology, economics, politics, ecology, botany, chemistry, and so on. Accordingly, this program offers a diverse and interdisciplinary set of classes in ...
- Posted Jan. 25, 2019
- Academic Programs
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University of Vermont Dining Services Vendor RFP
- University of Vermont (VT)
- Real Food Challenge (MA)
Request for Proposals for the University of Vermont's dining services provider, specifying ways that the Real Food Challenge and other sustainability measures are to be incorporated into the vendor ...
- Posted Jan. 11, 2019
- Tools
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Transitioning “Upward” When “Downstream” Efforts Are Insufficient
- Western Colorado University (CO)
This article presents the results of a social marketing campaign to encourage individuals to compost at a university dining facility. Downstream efforts were less effective than desired in changing behavior ...
- Posted Dec. 21, 2018
- Publications
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The Real Impact of Real Food: 8 Ways Institutional Procurement is Building Real Food Economy
- Real Food Challenge (MA)
This report pulls from interviews of 50 Real Food vendors across the US detailing how commitments to purchasing Real Food has improved their livelihoods and the overall infrastructure for a ...
- Posted Dec. 21, 2018
- Publications
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An emerging signature pedagogy for sustainable food systems education
- Montana State University (MT)
- University of California, Davis (CA)
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- University of British Columbia (BC)
Concerns are growing over the ability of the modern food system to simultaneously achieve food security and environmental sustainability in the face of global change. Yet, the dominant tendency within ...
- Posted Dec. 11, 2018
- Publications
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Food Studies Certificate (FDST)
- Dickinson College (PA)
Food studies is the critical examination of food—the evolution of its procurement, production, consumption and cultural meanings within the contexts of the natural and social sciences and humanities. It ...
- Posted Nov. 20, 2018
- Academic Programs
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Setup a Food Hub as a Community Resilience Tool
- Black Hills State University (SD)
- AASHE (PA)
Black Hills State University (BHSU) and Spearfish community partners are seeking to create a culture that supports and values local food in order to expand the reach and depth of ...
- Posted Nov. 15, 2018
- Videos & Webinars
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Building an Open Source Food Recovery Website: Pairing University Dining Halls With Shelters
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
About one-third of food is wasted globally each year (Smith). Further, 30-40% of all food in the U.S. goes uneaten each year, resulting in 133 billion pounds of waste ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC) Membership Meeting
- University of South Carolina (SC)
Members and non-members alike are invited to join this annual CURC membership meeting. Board members will provide organizational updates, discuss current projects, and share opportunities to get involved. The meeting ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Rebel Rot: An Engineering Capstone Project to Convert a Dumpster into an In-Vessel Composter
- University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)
Building off a past AASHE presentation (2017) by Dr. Brian Barnes from the University of Louisville, the University of Nevada Las Vegas Sustainability Coordinator partnered with the College of Engineering ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Can You Dig It?: Integrating Vermicomposting at UC Berkeley
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
Our project was initially inspired by the work in progress at the CSU - Sacramento Sustainable Technology Optimization Research Center (STORC). They are implementing a new processing system for their campus ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Building on Your Institutional Strengths to Reduce Food Waste
- Unity College (ME)
Unity College had a small scale limited food waste collection system in the dining halls on campus. By working with a local partner, the food waste that could be collected ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Composting and Organics Collection: Is it Happening On Your Campus?
- University of Arizona (AZ)
- US Composting Council (MD)
University and college campuses across the nation are increasingly adding food scraps collection and, often, the operation of compost or anaerobic digestion facilities to their 'green' portfolio to achieve STARS ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Reducing Odorous Emissions from Compost With Bio Filters
- Thompson Rivers University (BC)
In 2014 Thompson Rivers University published its campus Sustainability Action plan that identified priorities to become a green campus. Zero waste was identified as a major priority, including the capturing ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Zero-Waste Initiative: Composting at Events
- University of Arizona (AZ)
Public events tend to be extremely wasteful. When a county fair, culinary festival, fundraising campaign, or community garden potluck are organized, the overall aim is to create an enjoyable atmosphere ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Lessons From the Compost Pile: a Facilitated Conversation About Campus Compost Initiatives
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
This meeting will focus on institutional compost collection and processing systems. It will be an opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and connect with others engaged in campus composting efforts ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Automated Gardening System with Solar Integration
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
Industrialized agriculture has benefitted our society by feed billions but is also adding a burden to the environment. Inefficient watering techniques and indiscriminate use of chemicals in much of today ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Intersections of Food Waste, Hunger, and Spectrums of Homelessness, Abuse, and Addiction
- University of Utah (UT)
- Chartwells Higher Education (NY)
Homeless adults have disproportionate rates of chronic diet-related diseases, food security, rates of obesity, as well as co-morbidities such as diabetes. The outlook is even worse for children and youth ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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SDG2: Global Challenge, Local Solutions Powered by Penn State University Food Security Initiatives
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
With the mission of creating hunger-free and healthy communities through engaged scholarship, several Penn State campuses have joined forces to begin the efforts in their regions. They have partnered with ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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A University-Community Research Collaboration to Promote Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security
- University of North Carolina, Asheville (NC)
Many counties of Western North Carolina have high levels of food insecurity that may be addressed by training communities to grow, prepare, and preserve their own food. Through the McCullough ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Repairing our Foodshed
- Wells College (NY)
Wells College has acted to address gaps within its local foodshed. Responding to area 'food desert' conditions, the college initiated the Aurora Farmers Market to provide community residents access to ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Food Conscious Campus: Urban Innovations Towards Zero Hunger
- MacEwan University (AB)
Innovative technologies like Flow Hives, Tower Gardens, and Urban Cultivators engage the campus community with local food options and opportunities for food security downtown. Through a short documentary and discussion ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Great Gardening Goals: Aligning WMU's Gibbs Permaculture Site With the UN's SDGs
- Western Michigan University (MI)
At the Western Michigan University Gibbs Site, the Office for Sustainability demonstrates permaculture techniques, and researches the validity of those techniques, while repairing damaged land, building soil carbon, increasing biodiversity ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Overcoming Obstacles When Establishing Intentional, Productive Urban Campus Green Spaces: Natural and Man-made Challenges
- Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)
In April 2016, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), an urban research university in downtown Richmond, VA, created an on-campus Learning Garden. Urban campus gardens can face a unique set of challenges ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Big Food in our Universities: Exploring the Ties Between Institutions and Big Food Corporations
- Real Food Challenge (MA)
Our universities and higher education institutions have the power and duty to be at the forefront of the movement for a more just and sustainable food system. So why is ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Put Your Fork Where Your Ethics Are: Exploring Food Systems & Leveraging University Purchasing Power
- Johns Hopkins University (MD)
Do you support climate change? What about modern-day slavery? You don't have to answer that, the food that you buy already does. Worldwide, food is an essential commodity that ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Lettuce Talk: Students and Dining Staff Collaborating on Plant-Based Dining
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
- Sodexo (FL)
Plant-based diets can be healthier and more sustainable than meat-centric diets but plant-based options in college dining halls often fail to be crave-worthy. At the University of Pittsburgh dining halls ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Campus Grown: Connecting Sustainability, Local Food Systems, and Experiential Student Learning
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)
When farms, gardens, and other agricultural production takes place on college campuses those spaces can serve as hubs for sustainability education, local food systems, and transformative student learning. In this ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Food Recovery and Partnership Models
- University of Notre Dame (IN)
- University of Utah (UT)
- Sodexo (FL)
- 412 Food Rescue (PA)
The University of Utah is collaborating to address seven of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals on on-campus, in local communities, as well as throughout the state. While working ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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How to Get Reusable Dining Containers on Your Campus!
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
Many campuses serve food at dining locations in single-use plastics. These plastics may be recyclable, but unfortunately, these containers are rarely cleaned. As a result, the recycling is contaminated. In ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Using Catering to Create a Virtuous Cycle of Sustainability in Your Community
- Emory University (GA)
- America To Go (NY)
Sustainability practitioners are constantly grappling with the hard questions: How to overcome inertia of the status quo? How to get others to adopt change? How to get businesses that could ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Green Dining at Georgia State University
- Georgia State University (GA)
Georgia State's insourced dining services, PantherDining, continues to impress and promote sustainability throughout campus. With the help from the Student Sustainability Fee Fund, PantherDining recently launched Freight Farms' Leafy ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Real Food Challenge at University of Pittsburgh
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
The Real Food Challenge is a nation-wide initiative to bring local, fair, humane, and ecologically sound food to college campuses. By 2020, every participating institution aims to have 20% of ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Increasing Local Food Procurement at Ontario's 24 Colleges
- Mohawk College (ON)
Mohawk College executed an innovative project that proved that by sharing knowledge, resources, and solutions, together, colleges can work together to address systematic barriers to sustainability. The project, Increasing Local ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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The Dirt on Real/Good Food
- Macalester College (MN)
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
- University of Calgary (AB)
- Sodexo (FL)
What makes food sustainable? As an institution how do we implement and report sustainable sourcing of food consumed on our campuses? The Good Food Challenge (Canada) and Real Food Challenge ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Using FEEDS Communication Platform to Share Sustainability News From Dining Services
- University of North Carolina, Asheville (NC)
- Chartwells Higher Education (NY)
As part of our commitment to sustainability, in October 2017 UNC Asheville Dining Services, a division of Chartwells Higher Ed, rolled out a new public communications platform called FEEDS: Farm-Forward ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Researching and Purchasing Real Food on Campus
- Real Food Challenge (MA)
Our institutions of higher education have incredible purchasing power, with food budgets totaling approximately $5 billion. Instead of using their spending to support local and community-based, fair, ecologically sound, and ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Raising the Bar Across North America: Tracking Sustainable Food Purchasing in Higher Education
- Real Food Challenge (MA)
- Meal Exchange (ON)
Across the United States, the Real Food Calculator has become a standard-setting tool for local and sustainable food procurement in higher education. This student-led research tool allows universities to assess ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Building a Bigger Table: Engaging Communities on Food Security
- College of Charleston (SC)
On our campus, and in the surrounding community, there appears to be a growing urge for increased engagement and 'silo-busting.' One of the largest focal points for this is food ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Closing the Food Loop
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
As a group of student from three different universities and a diverse range of interests, we all noticed that there were many problems with the current food system. To start ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Estimating Greenhouse Gas and Water Reduction Through Food Labeling at a University Dining Facility
- Villanova University (PA)
As one of the most basic requirements for survival, food plays a massive role in how humans interact, not merely with one another, but also with the environment. The diet ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Virginia Food Systems Leadership Institute
- George Mason University (VA)
This poster will provide an overview of the Virginia Food Systems Leadership Institute (VFSLI), an innovative collaboration involving four public research universities in Virginia and the Smithsonian Institution. Piloted successfully ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Leveraging Sustainability in Food Service Across Campus
- University of Houston (TX)
The University of Houston has undergone a physical and culture transformation with a different food service provider and new collaboration with our Office of Sustainability. In spring 2017 the Food ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Local Food Sourcing in Kentucky: A Case Study in Higher Ed Collaboration
- Aramark Higher Education (PA)
The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville have a unique approach to sourcing local food. Hear from the Sustainability Managers from their dining services and the Executive Director ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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Food Service Contracts and RFPs as Vehicle for Sourcing More Sustainable Food
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
- University of Vermont (VT)
- Farm Forward (OR)
College and universities need new strategies to scale sustainable food procurement. Programs like STARS and the Real Food Challenge have institutionalized sustainable food purchasing targets and many campuses have made ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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UT Farm Stand: A Campus-Scale Model for Sustainable Food Production
- University of Texas at Austin (TX)
At the University of Texas, UT Farm Stand offers an innovative campus-scale model for a sustainable food production system. This student-run program depicts the unique tale of farm to market ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
- Conference Presentations
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community. Additional content and advanced benchmarking tools will be added to this tab over time.
Benchmarking Data
The following links connect to specific Content Displays on the STARS website (AASHE membership and log-in required).
- Percentage of dining services food and beverage expenditures on products that are third party verified or both local and community-based
- Percentage of total dining service food expenditures on conventional animal products
Programs and Initiatives
The following links connect to specific Content Displays on the STARS website (AASHE membership and log-in required).
- Sustainable food and beverage purchasing programs
- Sustainable food and beverage inventories
- Methodologies used to track/inventory sustainable food and beverage purchases
- Vegan dining programs
- Initiatives to reduce food waste
- Tracking and reducing pre-consumer food waste
- Tracking and reducing post-consumer food waste
- Donating food to feed people
- Pre-consumer food waste composting
- Post-consumer food waste composting
- Using reusable service ware for "dine in" meals
- Providing reusable and/or third party certified compostable containers and service ware for "to go" meals
- Discounts for customers who use reusable containers
Scores
The following link connects to the Score Display on the STARS website (AASHE membership and log-in required).
Food & Dining Partners
Chartwells Higher Education
Rye Brook, NYBusiness Supporter
AGreenOZZI, LLC
East Greenwich, RIBusiness Affiliate
Aramark Higher Education
Philadelphia, PABusiness Affiliate
Bewley's North America
Sacramento, CABusiness Affiliate
Creative Dining Services
Zeelend, MIBusiness Affiliate
Essity Professional Hygiene North America LLC
Neenah, WIBusiness Affiliate
Fair Trade Colleges & Universities
Oakland, CABusiness Affiliate
FarmLogix, LLC
Evanston, ILBusiness Affiliate
Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Arden Hills, MNBusiness Affiliate
Leonardo Academy
Madison, WIBusiness Affiliate
The Campus Kitchens Project
Washington, DCBusiness Affiliate
Vegware US
Warren, OHBusiness Affiliate