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With the publication of the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, more than 1,100 school survey responses from over 300 institutions are now available online. In total, these surveys offer more than 10,000 pages of data collected from colleges and universities during the summer of 2009. To access surveys from other schools, go to the surveys section of the website. To see grades, or to access additional surveys submitted by this school, please click the "Back to Report Card" link at the beginning or end of the survey.
Name: Varun Avasthi, Joe Klaus
Title: Director and Operations Manager, Dining Services
Date survey submitted: July 21, 2009
1) Total annual food budget: 42% of total Dining Service Budget
LOCALLY GROWN AND PRODUCED FOOD
Note: Geographic location and seasonal availability are taken into account in assessing your response. "Local" is defined as within 150 miles of your campus.
2) Do you have any formal policies pertaining to local purchases?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Supplier Code of Conduct
20% of our food $ are spent on locally grown or produced. All potatoes, milk, apples, blueberries, granola, yogurt and ice cream. Other products in season mostly produce, eggs and cheese. We offer a sustainable catering menu and work with customers to customize menus utilizing seasonal ingredients.
http://www.colby.edu/campus_cs/dining_services/catering/local-sustainable-dinner-menu.cfm
Questions 3-5 pertain to locally grown purchases.
3) From how many local farms or growers do you purchase (excluding on-campus farms/gardens)?
[ 2 ] Number from which you purchase directly. Apple Farm and Lakeside Family Farms
[177 ] Number from which you purchase through a distributor. Please specify name and location of distributor: Farm Fresh Connection Freeport Maine, Native Maine Produce Westbrook Maine, PGF North Center Foods Augusta Maine and Oakhurst Dairy Portland Maine
4) How much do you spend annually on purchasing food that was grown or raised locally?
12 %
5) Please list foods you purchase that are grown or raised locally (e.g., fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, fish, honey, maple syrup; foods that are processed locally should be listed in question 8): fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fish, lobster, shellfish, honey, maple syrup, meat, eggs, milk.
Questions 6-8 pertain to locally produced and/or processed items.
6) From how many local processors do you purchase?
[ ] Number from which you purchase directly.
[ 18] Number from which you purchase through a distributor. Please specify name and location of distributor: Native Maine Produce Westbrook Maine, PGF North Center Foods Augusta Maine
7) How much do you spend annually on purchasing food that was processed locally?
[8% ]
8) Please list items you purchase that are processed locally (e.g., bread, granola, ice cream, baked goods, yogurt, cheese): cheese, yogurt, granola, sausage, bacon, smoked salmon, ice cream, setan, bread, bagels, frozen vegetables, frozen fruit, coffee, beer and snack foods.
9) Do you purchase milk from a local dairy?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please provide name of dairy and location: Oakhurst Dairy Portland Maine
10) Do you source any food from an on-campus farm or garden?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe source and amount: About 3000 lb. annually from a student run garden managed by Dining Service with oversight from Biology and Environmental Studies. Dining Services and Biology hires interns to tend the garden in the summer. The Garden is ½ acre in size. Food from the garden is used by dining services, brought to area food banks and offered for sale to faculty and staff.
11) Do you participate in a farm-to-school program?
[ ] No
[ x] Yes. Please describe program: Farm Fresh Connection they work directly with local farmers to source locally grown product for area schools and restaurants. They will work with farms to grow specific crops to meet customer demand. In addition to Farm Fresh Connection The Apple Farm delivers directly to the college from the orchards
ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED FOOD
12) Do you have any formal policies pertaining to the purchase of organic and/or sustainably produced food?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe and provide URL, if available: Our policy is to purchase organic and sustainable food as available within 15% of cost for traditional food items.
13) Do you purchase organically grown or produced food?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please list items: spring mix, adzuki beans, arborio rice, basmati rice, black beans, buckwheat soba noodles, bulgur, couscous, granola, great northern beans, green lentils, jasmine rice, long grain brown rice, mung beans, pinto beans, quinoa, red lentils, rice milk, sesame seeds, seitan, soy milk, yogurt, tofu, sweet rice, peanut butter, udon noodles, honey, yellow lentils and wheat berries.
14) How much do you spend annually on organically grown or produced food?
[3%]
For questions 15-19, please indicate percentage based on annual dollar amount spent.
15) Do you purchase cage-free eggs and/or confinement-free meat products?
[ ] No
[ x] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ 5 %] Percentage cage-free eggs
[ %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product:
[ %] Percentage confinement-free. Type of meat product:
16) Do you purchase any grass-fed animal products?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ 1%] Grass-fed. Type of animal product: Beef
[ %] Grass-fed. Type of animal product:
17) Do you purchase hormone- and antibiotic-free meat?
[ x ] No
[ ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat:
[ %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of meat:
18) Do you purchase hormone- and antibiotic-free dairy products?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of dairy product: milk
[ 100 %] Percentage hormone- and antibiotic-free. Type of dairy product: yogurt
19) Do you purchase seafood that meets Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines or Marine Stewardship Council standards?
[ ] No
[ x] Yes. Please indicate. Exceeds Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines. Dining services was recognized by the National Wildlife Federation for being one of the first to adopt the practice
[ 100 %] Percentage purchased that meets guidelines. Please list guidelines used: We purchase seafood item listed as green or yellow on the list we use items from the green as much as possible going to yellow items occasionally, items from the red list are not used.
20) Do you offer specifically labeled vegan entrees on a daily, weekly, or other regularly scheduled basis?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please specify number of options and the frequency with which they are offered: Vegan items are featured at each meal, there is at least one entre, compound salad, vegetable, grain or potato as well as miso dressing and vegan deserts.
21) Please list and give percentages for any other sustainably produced food items you purchase that are not included above:
FAIR TRADE PRODUCTS
22) Do you purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee?
[ ] No
[ x ] Some. Please describe: 100% for retail and catering and 33% for board plan
[ ] All
23) Do you purchase other Fair Trade Certified food products?
[ x ] No
[ ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ %] Percentage purchased that is Fair Trade Certified. Type of item:
DISHWARE AND ECO-FRIENDLY INCENTIVES
24) Please indicate which of following your university-operated/contracted dining facilities offers.
[ ] Disposable dishware
[ ] Only reusable dishware
[ x] Reusable and disposable dishware: board plan is 100% reusable, catering uses both and retail uses all disposable.
25) If you offer disposables, please indicate materials used (check all that apply).
[ ] Plastic or polystyrene
[x ] Postconsumer recycled content
[ x] Biodegradable/compostable
[ ] Other
Description (optional): We use napkins and fiber plates from 100% recycled content, PLA cold cups, spud ware and Green Mountain Coffee cups which are biodegradable.
26) Do your dining facilities offer discounts or cash incentives to individuals using reusable dishware, bringing a bag, or bringing reusable containers?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe: Customers receive a 10% discount for providing their own beverage cup. Re-usable cups are available for take out in dining halls as opposed to paper cups.
27) Do your dining facilities use any polystyrene products (i.e., Styrofoam)?
[x ] No
[ ] Yes. Please describe:
FOOD COMPOSTING AND WASTE DIVERSION
28) Do your dining facilities compost preconsumer food scraps?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please indicate the proportion of dining facilities that run preconsumer compost programs (e.g. two out of five dining facilities) and, if available, the combined annual tonnage composted. Five out of five compost pre and post consumer food waste.
[ 100 %] Proportion of dining facilities that run preconsumer compost programs.
[ 117.6 ] Annual tonnage of preconsumer and post consumer compost.
29) Do your dining facilities compost postconsumer food scraps?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please indicate the proportion of dining facilities that run postconsumer compost programs (e.g. two out of five dining facilities) and, if available, the combined annual tonnage composted. Five out of five run post consumer composting
[ 100 %] Proportion of dining facilities that run postconsumer compost programs.
[ 117.6 ] Annual tonnage of postconsumer and preconsumer compost.
30) Do your dining facilities donate excess food to a food bank, soup kitchen, or shelter, etc.?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe: We donate excess food from all of our facilities and donate a part of all our harvests from the garden to local soup kitchens.
31) Do your dining facilities have a trayless dining program?
[ ] No
[ ] Sometimes--on specific days, on certain occasions, or in specific locations. Please describe:
[ x] Yes--standard practice. Please describe program including date started and, if available, data on reduced food waste or water consumption: September 08 saving us 79,000 gallons of water a year and about 9 tons in food waste.
32) Please tell us about any other steps your dining facilities have taken to reduce waste (e.g., food waste auditing, recycling used cooking oil for biodiesel production): 100% of our used cooking oil is used by a local farmer for biodiesel. All 3 of our dining halls practice just in time cooking which means that final cooking is done only as needed. The entrées are served plated to help control portions. We have installed an efficient ware washing system that reduces water consumption by 49,000 gallons of water and 27,000 KW of electricity used by our dish machines. We use only reusable linen table cloths for our catering. Use bulk beverage dispensers, no use of disposable tablecloths, and napkins are placed on tables instead of food line.
RECYCLING OF TRADITIONAL MATERIALS
33) Please indicate which traditional materials your dining facilities recycle (check all that apply).
[ ] None
[ x ] Aluminum
[ x ] Cardboard
[ x ] Glass
[ x ] Paper
[ ] Plastics (all)
[ X ] Plastics (some)
[ ] Other. Please list: boxes from dairy, seafood, and apple suppliers are returned for reuse.
34) Are recycling receptacles located throughout dining locations?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe: All paper and cardboard is recycled as well as all beverage bottles and cans.
35) What is the dining services' current waste-diversion rate (the percentage of recyclable waste diverted from traditional disposal)?
[ 43 %] We do not separate dining from campus, but the overall diversion rate for campus for recyclables is 43%.
AFFILIATIONS
Questions 36-37 are for informational purposes only; responses will NOT be included in the Report Card evaluation process.
36) Indicate if your dining services are:
[ x ] Contracted. Please describe: Sodexo, Inc. www.sodexoUSA.com is a leading integrated facilities management services company in the US., Canada, and Mexico. Sodexo, Inc. headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., is a member of Sodexo Group, and funds all costs for the Sodexo Foundation www.sodexofoundation.org an independent charitable organization dedicated to stopping hunger.
[ ] School operated. Please describe:
[ ] Other. Please describe:
37) Is the dining services director, or another dining services staff person, a member of any campus-wide environmental/sustainability initiatives or committees at your school?
[ ] No
[ x] Yes. Please describe: Yes, Operations Manager Joe Klaus. Advisor to Environmental Coalition and Colby Organic Farmers and Gardner’s Association two student environmental clubs on campus. Director of Dining Services, Varun Avasthi Member of Sodexo’s Sustainable and Environmental Expert Development Team (SEED) as well as Northeast Champion for Sustainable campus initiatives.
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