Brown University
Contact: Claire Sidla
Dining Services Administration
Tel: (401) 863-3343
Fax (401) 863-2989
Do your freshmen eat separately from other classes, and/or does the standard freshman meal
plan differ from the standard upperclassman meal plan?
Freshmen are all welcomed and have the ability to eat with the rest of the meal plan participant
customers. Here is a link that can assist you with our meal plan offers:
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Food_Services/mealplans/index.php )
Do your dining halls operate on declining budgets for students or on a specific number of meals
or “swipes”?
We have block plans (called flex plans) where students are given blocks of meals and draw down
on the balance (via swipes) at their own pace. We also have weekly plans on which students
receive a set number of meals each week (20, 14, 10 or7), each swipe is deducted from that
balance, and their balance resets every Friday.
Are there any “all-you-can-eat” facilities or time periods at some facilities on your campus?
We have 2-All-you-can-eat Residential Dining Halls. The Refectory Main Dining Room is the
larger and is opened continuous service Mon. – Sat. 730a-730p; Sun. 1030a-730pand a smaller
unit called the Verney Woolley which is opened Mon. – Friday with continuous service for
breakfast through lunch; closes and then opens for dinner.
Do you use trays at your dining hall(s)?
We use a semi-trayless concept in the Refectory and do not use any trays in the Verney Woolley.
Are your dining halls self-serve?
We have a mix in the Residential dining halls. Some more popular items (chicken fingers, Cajun
pasta etc.) are served as well as servers are put on the line to move heavy traffic counts through
the food lines. Otherwise, there are self-service areas throughout the dining halls. Retail are
mostly served operations.
Are to-go containers available at all times? What kinds?
We provide a “greenware”(disposable/compostable) product in our Residential dining units as
well as an eco-friendly reusable container (in which students have selected to use) for meal plan
participants. Here is a link to assist:
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Food_Services/sustainability/blooming.php)
What measures have you taken toward sustainability? Are these measures implemented in all
dining facilities?
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Food_Services/sustainability/index.php)
Dartmouth College
Contact: Matthew C. Smith
Dining Services & Campus Center Operations
Tel: (603) 646-3726
Fax (603) 646-1735
How much food waste do your dining halls each generate each week/year? Has this stayed fairly
constant over the years?
I do not have figures handy, but you may find some on one of the links below. The food waste
has deceased moderately, but the amount of compost and recycled items have increased
substantially while our contribution to landfills has decreased greatly. We have just switched to
an all-you-care–to-eat format for our main dining hall. This has greatly reduced packaging. We
compost nearly everything that we cannot recycle. We do not have trash cans in our main dining
hall. All rubbish is put on the trays, so our trained staff can separate and dispose of items
properly. This alone has greatly reduced our contribution to landfills.
Do your freshmen eat separately from other classes, and/or does the standard freshman meal
plan differ from the standard upperclassman meal plan?
Dartmouth is on a quarter system. First year students are required to have a specific meal plan
for their first quarter, but they are free to change after fall term. The meal plans are valid at all
locations, and freshman are free to choose which dining venue they eat at.
Do your dining halls operate on declining budgets for students or on a specific number of meals
or “swipes”?
We operate on a hybrid system of declining balances and meal swipes. You can find details
athttp://www.dartmouth.edu/dining/plans/ . Our main dining hall is an all you care to eat facility
(swipe your ID at the door) while the others are a la carte (pay only for what you eat). Students
can use their meal swipes at the a la carte facilities through use of a meal swipe equivalency,
where a swipe is converted into a set amount of DBA.
Are there any “all-you-can-eat” facilities or time periods at some facilities on your campus?
Only the main dining hall is all-you-care-to-eat. (“All-you-can-eat” is a bit too much of a
challenge a la Homer Simpson.) The 3 satellite locations are not.
Do you use trays at your dining hall(s)?
Yes.
Are your dining halls self-serve?
We’re mostly self-service. Our kosher kitchen is full service. Some of our a la carte facilities
have self-service cold foods but the hot food is prepared to order and served by the staff.
Are to-go containers available at all times? What kinds?
Despite our protests, to-go food remains a huge part of Dartmouth. Our paper products are
unbleached and compostable. The food is generally taken out in plastic “clamshell” containers.
They are recyclable, and we do actively encourage customers to avoid to-go containers. Several
student groups also actively campaign to encourage their peers to recycle.
What measures have you taken toward sustainability? Are these measures implemented in all
dining facilities?
Sustainability is a key element of Dartmouth planning, and the efforts, both large and small, are
too vast to quickly describe. As an independent college-operated dining service, the mission of
the college is also our own. Our main dining hall has just been renovated and sustainability was
a key part of the planning. Attached is a part of the opening program, which has some details. A
lot of the other efforts are detailed online:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/dining/
our main page does currently have some focus on sustainability including a documentary
produced by several students who were nice enough to let us link to it.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/dining/faq/sustainability.html
This is a little dated, and we have increased the numbers since then
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sustain/dartmouth/dining.html
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sustain/
We’ve also hosted Barton Seaver, who taught our staff about sustainable seafood purchasing as
well as food preparation.
http://www.bartonseaver.org/
Sustainability is important to all locations, but the new facility is the only one with it designed in.
As we renovate and update, our other facilities will be brought up to the high standards of our
strategic sustainability planning.
Stanford University
Contact: Cynthia Liu
Residential & Dining Enterprises
Tel: (650) 725-9660
Fax: (650) 725-1507
Do your freshmen eat separately from other classes?
No. We have some dining halls affiliated with all-frosh dormitories, but any student on the meal
plan can dine at any one of eight of our dining halls. (We have three other dining halls that are
row houses and not part of the open meal plan).
Does the standard freshman meal plan differ from the standard upperclassman meal plan?
There is no freshman meal plan separate from upperclassman meal plan. All undergrads can
chose from one of three meal plans: 19 meals per week, 14 or 10 meals per week plus Meal Plan
Dollars that can be used at Late Night or some of the retail cafes around campus. There is also an
apartment meal plan for upperclassmen living in apartment-style residences that have their own
kitchen: 5 meals per week plus Meal Plan Dollars. Freshmen are not put in apartment residences
because there is less social interaction.
Do your dining halls operate on declining budgets for students or on a specific number of meals
or “swipes”?
Not sure what you are asking here. Perhaps the answer above will suffice?
Are all of your dining halls serviced by the same company?
We are a department of the University, a self-op. We are not a contractor. Yes, we operate all of
our dining halls.
Do you have any outside vendors operating other places during mealtimes that students can eat
at on the same plan?
Yes, there are outside vendors operating some retail cafes on campus. They do not extend any
meal plans to students and we have no affiliation with them. Our sister organization, Stanford
Hospitality & Auxiliaries, operates some of the retail cafes on campus and our students can use
Meal Plan Dollars there. We also partner with a few outside vendors such as Subway, which
accepts Meal Plan Dollars.
Are there any “all-you-can-eat” facilities or time periods at some facilities on your campus?
All of our dining halls are all-you-care-to-eat. Our newest dining hall, Arrillaga Family Dining
Commons, offers continuous service between meals, so there is food served there from 7:30 am
to 8 pm. It’s a popular program that we just started this academic year, when we opened that
dining hall. In addition, we have Late Night every night at Arrillaga Family Dining Commons
from 9 pm to 2 am, as well as at Lakeside Sun through Thur from 9:30 pm to 2 am.
Approximately how many people does a dining hall service per day?
We serve 12,000 meals per day. There are around 4,000 undergrads on the meal plan (undergrads
living in row houses and fraternities are not on our meal plan), plus we have many graduate
students, staff and faculty dining in the dining halls.
Do you use trays at your dining hall(s)?
We went trayless a couple of years ago to be sustainable. However, we did not eliminate them
completely because sometimes people with physical disabilities, athletes who eat a lot, people
who happen to be schlepping a lot of stuff on a particular day or people who are eating a big
bowl of hot Vietnamese pho soup need a tray. So the trays are not out and easily accessible, but
if one asks the cashier, they can have a tray.
Are your dining halls self-serve?
Yes
Are to-go containers available at all times? What kinds of to-go containers do you use?
No. We are all-you-care-to-eat in your stomach. We do not allow people to take food out. Allyou-care-to-eat buffets don’t give to-go containers. As I said, the dining halls do not offer to-go
containers. Our sister department’s retail cafes use compostable containers.
What measures have you taken toward sustainability? Are these measures implemented in all
dining facilities?
Our Sustainable Food Program Manager educates the Stanford community on aspects of the
sustainable food system; drives innovation in food systems through collaborative projects
involving research, coursework and strategic partnerships; and implements projects that enhance
margins as measured economically, socially and environmentally. Our Sustainable Food
Program Manager works with our Procurement and Vendor Management department to create
and enforce sustainable purchasing guidelines.
Stanford Dining will continue with sustainability initiatives already implemented throughout the
Stanford Dining program:
· 40 percent local and organic food purchasing
· 100 percent cage-free eggs
· 100 percent Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program “Good” or “Best” choice
seafood
· 15,000 pounds of wild Alaskan salmon purchased annually directly from Taku River Reds
family fishery
· Grass-fed beef hamburger patties from Marin Sun Farms
· Organic non-fat milk from Clover Stornetta
· ALBA Organics (Agriculture and Land-Based training Association) produce
· Fryer waste oil to biodiesel
· Spa water infused with fruit and herbs
· Wash Your Mug program
· Dining in the Daylight
· Food waste composting at all dining halls
· Trayless Dining
· Support of SPOON (Stanford Project for Hunger)
2011-12 initiatives:
· Niman Ranch pork
· Organic whole apples (#1 on the USDA’s Dirty Dozen list)
All meal plan students are given a free stainless steel water bottle to reduce plastic water bottle
waste and reduce the carbon footprint caused by transporting bottled water onto campus.
Duke Freeman Center
Contact: Jeremy Yoskowitz
Campus Rabbi
Tel: (919) 684-6422
Rabbi Jeremy gave us free-form answers to the general questions: Do you have any idea what
the reasons behind the lower amount of food waste in the Freeman Center as compared to The
Marketplace might be? Has the Freeman Center done anything in particular to reduce their food
waste?
1. Jewish Ethics. There is a Jewish principle called Baal Tashchit, which prohibits us from
needless waste and/or destruction. While this is often held up as a guiding principle for a
number of organizations, it is one that is very easily applied practically. This leads us to
the second item:
2. Deliberation. We're very careful in what and how much we both order and prepare. We
know historically which nights are the busies and prepare accordingly. Our staff
intentionally make less food than we expect to require on any given evening and perform
an assessment each night based on whom is dining with us that night and how many.
Meaning when a group from the Diet Center comes in we expect it won't have the same
kind of impact as it does when a large number of student athletes walk in after a practice.
We also plan things well in advance. We need to plan in advance because we only order
kosher products and have a longer ordering cycle. But it also means that we know what
we're doing well in advance.
3. Quality. We have outstanding dining staff who love what they do and love the students.
We plan menus well in advance and do so with student input whenever possible since we
want to make sure that the food we serve is of the highest possible quality. Since people
are generally enjoying the food and entirely clearing their plates, there is a lot less waste
afterwards. Some of this has to do with the process of keeping things kosher but a lot of
it has to do with the fact that we love what we do and really enjoy serving food that we
know people will love and enjoy. When people tell the staff how much they enjoyed
something, it really means a lot.
4. Evaluation and Feedback. We ask questions and listen. When students, faculty and staff
express a preference for something we make more of it for the future. Conversely, when
something doesn't go over well we don't repeat it. For example, last year we added
kosher hot wings as an experiment. They were devoured in short order, so we made
more. The next time we served them, we prepared a larger quantity off the bat and it
worked out very well. The flipside is when an experiment goes awry, we try to find out
why and don't repeat it. Last year the dining supervisor decided without consultation to
change the Thursday night menu from Mac N' Cheese to pizza. While the homemade
pizzas were quite good, people came expecting one thing and weren't pleased. Needless
to say, he learned that we ALWAYS serve mac n' cheese on a normal Thursday! We
don't want to see people throwing out perfectly good food because it isn't what they were
expecting.
5. Size. We're much smaller than marketplace which is what allows us to do some many of
the items above.