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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: Nori Yamashita
Title: General Manager
Date survey submitted: July 16th 2009
1) Total annual food budget: [$ ] 33%
Our annual food budget is 33% of total sales for the campus.
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. Please describe and provide URL, if available:
Questions 3-5 pertain to locally grown purchases.
For our operation, we try to purchase locally grown products whenever available. Due to our location, our growing season is limited and availability of locally grown products are limited.
Sodexo has a local purchasing policy for produce. In our contracts, we require produce companies to source fruits and vegetables from the same state or geographical region.
Additionally, we require all vendors to follow the Sodexo vendor Code of Conduct covering the following areas; child labor, forced labor, wages and benefits, working hours, health and safety guidelines, freedom of association, non-discrimination, disciplinary practices/coercion, environmental guidelines, community involvement, ethical standards, conflicts of interest and communication. http://www.sodexousa.com/usen/citizenship/diversity/suppliercode/suppliercode.asp
3).From how many local farms or growers do you purchase (excluding on-campus farms/gardens)?
[ # ] Number from which you purchase directly.
[ # ] Number from which you purchase through a distributor. Please specify name and location of distributor:
During season, we purchase locally grown products from 7 growers in Colorado.
Palisade Peaches
Olathe Corn
Rocky Ford Cantaloupe
Fagerberg Onions
Brighton Green Beans
Brighton Cabbage
Alamosa Mushrooms
4) How much do you spend annually on purchasing food that was grown or raised locally?
[$ ] 10.4% of total food purchase be attributed to locally grown or raised.
Or, 4.5 % of total food purchase excluding milk and milk products.
Robinson Dairy - milk and cream products
Shamrock - Colorado Proud products through Shamrock distributor.
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):
Peaches
Corn
Cantaloupe
Onions
Mushroom
Green Beans
Cabbage
Robinson Dairy (Milk and Milk products)
Questions 6-8 pertain to locally produced and/or processed items.
6) From how many local processors do you purchase?
[ 5 ] Number from which you purchase directly. Robinson Dairy, Blue Point Bakery, Bakers Way, Culinaire Inc., Seattle Seafood Co. Denver - Sushi
[ 8 ] Number from which you purchase through a distributor. Please specify name and location of distributor:
Colorado Ranchers Dairy
Mouco Cheese Company
Sparboe Farms
Ready Foods
Mountain States Rosen
Mission Foods
Markon/Rakhra Mushroom
Condies Salad Co.
7) How much do you spend annually on purchasing food that was processed locally?
[$ ] Approximately 20.8% of total food purchase
Robinson Dairy for milk and milk products, specialty bread from Baker's Way and Blue Point bakery for our Deli and all retail operations, some produce through Shamrock, Seattle Seafood CO for Sushi which is produced in Denver, Culinaire of Denver for appetizers and other catering items.
8) Please list items you purchase that are processed locally (e.g., bread, granola, ice cream, baked goods, yogurt, cheese):
Robinson Dairy for milk and milk products, specialty bread from Baker's Way and Blue Point bakery for our Deli and all retail operations, some produce through Shamrock, Seattle Seafood CO for Sushi which is produced in Denver, Culinaire of Denver for appetizers and other catering items, Ice Cream through Shamrock Dairy.
9) Do you purchase milk from a local dairy?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please provide name of dairy and location:
Robinson Dairy - 646 Bryant St. Denver 80204
Antibiotic and rBGH/rBST free.
10) Do you source any food from an on-campus farm or garden?
[ X] No - We do not have an on-campus program at this time
[ ] Yes. Please describe source and amount:
11) Do you participate in a farm-to-school program?
[X ] No - not at this time
[ ] Yes. Please describe program:
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 understanding with DU is that dining services is to provide sustainable coffee program on campus. We offer Fair Trade, Organic, Rain Forest Alliance Certified, Bird Friendly. (Seattle's Best Coffee, Starbuck's Fair Trade Coffee, Jazzman's Coffee).
Organic products through UNFI (www.unfi.com)
As of July 2009, Sodexo has made the following commitments with an achievement date of 2015.
-100% of the fish and seafood we serve will be sustainably caught and raised.
-100% of the farm and ranch products we serve will be responsibly grown from local and sustainable producers.
13) Do you purchase organically grown or produced food?
[ ] No
[ X] Yes. Please list items:
We have one location on campus dedicated to Organic products.
Approximately 3% of total food purchase is organic. (Excluding Coffee).
14) How much do you spend annually on organically grown or produced food?
[$ ] Approximately 3% of total food purchase excluding coffee.
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?
[ X] No - not at this time. We are comparing cost of cage free eggs.
[ ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ %] 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?
[ X ] No - not at this time
[ ] Yes. Please indicate (repeat for each product).
[ %] Grass-fed. Type of animal product:
[ %] 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:
The USDA specifies and regulates hormone and antibiotic use in the meat industry and Sodexo suppliers are regulated by the USDA. All of our meat purchased on campus are USDA graded.
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 and milk products through Robinson Dairy.
19) Do you purchase seafood that meets Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines or Marine Stewardship Council standards?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please indicate.
Sodexo's goal is to have 100% of our contracted seafood certified as sustainable, either by the Marine Stewardship Council for wild caught seafood, or the Aquaculture Certification Council for farm raised seafood.
[ %] Percentage purchased that meets guidelines. Please list guidelines used:
Out of all seafood purchased for this past year, I can verify that 37.6% was certified sustainable. Due to availability of seafood in our area, our distributor has substituted what was available at the time which may not have been meeting Sodexo guidelines.
Account specific.
Sodexo contracts through regional and broadline distributors for seafood that provide seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines as well as the Aquaculture Certification Council.
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:
We offer vegan entrees on a daily basis. We've created a vegan/vegetarian station in our dining hall to better identify vegan/vegetarian selections.
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:
[ ] All
We offer Fair Trade, Organic, Rain Forest Alliance Certified, Bird Friendly. (Seattle's Best Coffee, Starbuck's Fair Trade Coffee, Jazzman's Coffee). Campus made a decision to offer multitude of sustainability minded coffee offerings on campus rather than just Fair Trade.
Sodexo Commitment:
We will double our purchase of fairly and responsibly traded products every year until 2015.
23) Do you purchase other Fair Trade Certified food products?
[ X ] No - not at this time.
[ ] 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
Two Dining Halls are 100% reusable ware with exception of straw and napkins. Straws are biodegradable and napkins are 100% recycled material.
Catering Department uses 100% biodegradable disposable ware.
Retail operations use disposable ware. Hot cups are disposable with 10% post consumer recycled material. We will be offering a reusable mug program for fall of 2009. Customers will put deposit for a reusable mug at time of beverage purchase. The deposit will be refunded when the mug is returned to any of the retail locations on campus.
25) If you offer disposables, please indicate materials used (check all that apply).
[ x] Plastic or polystyrene
[ x ] Postconsumer recycled content
[ x ] Biodegradable/compostable
[ ] Other
As stated in 24, we are using recycled to biodegradable to post consumer recycled products.
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:
We do offer use of reusable mugs at all retail locations. If you bring a recycle mug or own mug, customer will pay for a smaller size price for next size beverage. Starting this fall, we will be offering a program where customers will put a deposit for a reusable beverage mug. Customer will pay for a mug first time and get a refund when returned, or turn used mug in for a fresh mug at any of the retail locations on campus. Our goal is to reduce use of disposable cups on campus.
27) Do your dining facilities use any polystyrene products (i.e., Styrofoam)?
[ X] No
[ ] Yes. Please describe:
We were using small amount on campus through last year, but we've stopped using Polystyrene products on campus.
FOOD COMPOSTING AND WASTE DIVERSION
28) Do your dining facilities compost preconsumer food scraps?
[ X ] No (see below)
[ 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.
[ %] Proportion of dining facilities that run preconsumer compost programs.
[ ] Annual tonnage of preconsumer compost.
We will start this program this fall. We've completed a study and arranged for a composting program provider who will be able to compost kitchen waste, tray line waste and increase recycling. This program will be implemented in fall of 2009 in our two resident dining locations serving approximately 13,000 meals per week.
29) Do your dining facilities compost postconsumer food scraps?
[ X ] No (see below)
[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.
[ %] Proportion of dining facilities that run postconsumer compost programs.
[ ] Annual tonnage of postconsumer compost.
We will start this program this fall. We've completed a study and arranged for a composting program provider who will be able to compost kitchen waste, tray line waste and increase recycling. This program will be implemented in fall of 2009 in our two resident dining locations serving approximately 13,000 meals per week.
30) Do your dining facilities donate excess food to a food bank, soup kitchen, or shelter, etc.?
[ ] No
[ X ] Yes. Please describe:
Our program consists of donating excess food to Food Bank of the Rockies.
Our pre-packaged products for retail operation are produced in one of the kitchens on campus and shipped out to 14 retail outlets. We hold products for 24 hours then returned to the kitchen where items were produced. We keep all returned items in separate containers and wait for pick up each Thursday from Food Bank of the Rockies. This amounts to between 50-80 lbs per week. Our goal is to manage this waste down.
We also had another program which was implemented by a student where she will solicit volunteers on each Tuesday to make Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches utilizing bread heals and expired bread which are still consumable. Dining Service provided bread gathered from all campus operation and deliver to a central location where sandwiches are made and the volunteer group makes sandwiches and deliver to the local shelter.
Some excess baked goods were shipped to this program from retail operations.
Catering - any excess usable food from catering event is donated to Food Bank of the Rockies.
31) Do your dining facilities have a trayless dining program?
[ ] No
[ X ] Sometimes--on specific days, on certain occasions, or in specific locations. Please describe:
[ ] Yes--standard practice. Please describe program including date started and, if available, data on reduced food waste or water consumption:
We've implemented Trayless Tuesdays this past school year. Our program was not mandatory. Worked with student group to promote and encourage customers to go without trays. We will continue this program for this coming school year.
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):
Working with student volunteers, we have completed a food waste study. We will be marketing this information this year to encourage food waste reduction. We will conduct another study to make comparison to see year over year improvement.
Ware washing detergent was switched to Apex by Eco Lab to help reduce use of water.
We are discontinuing use of plastic bags at two campus C-Stores for this coming school year and replace them with reusable shopping bags at each location.
We are spending $101,500 this summer to regulate the monitoring and use of the exhaust hoods through the Melink system. We expect this to significantly reduce energy consumption in our dining halls.
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: One example includes coffee grounds.
34) Are recycling receptacles located throughout dining locations?
[ ] No
[ x] Yes. Please describe:
Resident dining locations have easy access to the recycling areas.
Retail locations have recycling bins near each operation.
35) What is the dining services' current waste-diversion rate (the percentage of recyclable waste diverted from traditional disposal)?
[ %]
The recycling program is managed by the university. The dining services works with the university program where office paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and aluminum cans are recycled regularly. However, the waste-diversion rate is not available at this time.
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:
[ ] School operated. Please describe:
[ ] Other. Please describe:
Sodexo, Inc.) is a leading integrated facilities management services company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with $7.7 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. Sodexo serves more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, government, and remote sites. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., is a member of Sodexo Group, and funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.sodexofoundation.org<http://www.sodexofoundation.org/>), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $11 million in grants to fight hunger in America.
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?
[x ] No - not at this time. I will be requesting to get on the DU Sustainability Council this coming year.
[ ] Yes. Please describe:
A member of the University's Food Service Committee also serves on the University's Sustainability Council. She reports information from committee to committee.
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