Lean, Green, and Clean: Environmental Practices in

Collegiate Foodservice

NRA Show 2008

Lean, Green, and Clean: Environmental Practices in Collegiate Foodservice

•Shawn LaPean, Director of Cal Dining, University of California – Berkeley

•Lester Prue, Unit Manager and Executive Chef, Bowdoin College

•Diane Hardy, Director of Food and Auxiliary Services, University of Richmond

•Rafi Taherian, Executive Director, Yale Dining Services, Yale University

•David Annis, NACUFS President and Executive Director of Food Service, University of Oklahoma

Social Responsibility:the Business Case

Shawn LaPean

Director, Cal Dining

University of California-Berkeley

• 46+ mm annual revenue• 4 Residential dining commons

• All you can eat, late night a la carte• Cal Club - online grocery • Late night dining-2am.

• 8 Retail locations (soon to be 10)• Lawrence Berkeley Lab-Cal Dining’s B&I• Catering

• Boxed breakfast/lunch delivery• Clark Kerr Campus

• Child Care - 5 facilities• Summer Conferences

Overview

• Serve 27,000 customers• Serve 5 million

transactions per year• 6000 required meal plans• 2366 choice meal plans• Staff

– 282 full time– 100 part time– 200 students

Overview, cont.

1. Taste and flavor in high volume– Authentic regional/ethnic flavor– Vegetarian/vegan flavor profile

2. Wellness– Modeling the behavior

3. Environmental Sustainability– Leaving the earth better

than they found it

College Food Service Trends

• 6 new executive chefs– Seasonal menus

• Nutrition sociologist– Information, education, outreach

• Social Responsibility– Organic certification

• First campus in the nation

– Green business practices• First green buildings on Cal’s campus

What we did about the trends

• LOHAS– Lifestyle – Of– Health – And – Sustainability

Social Responsibility • Customer-focused changes • Educate customers on efforts• Customer attitude shift

Student groups Nutrition, environmental, business

Vegan/animal rights Environmental interests

“Who can we thank?”

Green Certification• Crossroads was the first building on

UC Berkeley’s campus to be green business certified

• “Berkeley,” along with the growing interest in green – right place at the right time

• “Green is the New Black” NY Times, May 06• National and local publicity • Students at other colleges e-mailed us• All four dining halls certified, expanding to LBNL

and retail

• Integrity was key• Unknown territory• Expanding education beyond the classroom• Third-party standard adherence• National and local publicity • All four dining halls certified• Other organic

– Organic (cage-free) eggs– Organic soy milk, peanut butter– Organic groceries

Organic Certification

• Composting (pre and post)• Biodegradable containers• Marketing collaterals- recycled paper & soy inks,

transition to web only• Aggressive recycling • Biodegradable cleaning supplies• “Natural” items in retail & online grocery• Bio-diesel-Blu Sky• Fair trade as a minimum standard • Donate food to local shelters• Eat the World/Save the Earth (peer-to-peer food waste education)• Made-in-USA uniforms• Living wage• WorkFit

Other Socially Responsible Practices

Five Years of Results• Revenue - 24mm to 46+ mm• Meals served-1.9 mm to 5 mm• Optional meal plans-399 to 2,366• No full service catering to 2mm in sales this

fiscal year• Customer satisfaction risen by 30%(NACUFS)• 5th most popular web site at UCB• Ivy Award!!

Thank you!

Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick, Maine

Sustainable Commitment

Student Involvement

Collaborative Effort

Positive Attitude

Sustainable Results

• From Construction to Operations

GOING GREEN

ONE STEP

AT A TIME!

• Private, highly selective liberal arts university

• Ranked one of the best liberal arts universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report

• 2,795 undergraduate students (51 percent women, 12 percent underrepresented minorities)

• 653 master’s and professional students (excluding the School of Continuing Studies)

• 635 part-time and 242 full-time continuing studies students

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND

UR Dining Services

• Self-operated

• Total annual revenue: Approximately $11 million

• Meal plan holders: 2,673

• Residential & retail dining plus catering and conference services

Heilman CenterGoals

Contemporary design, Leeds Contemporary design, Leeds certification eligiblecertification eligible

Maximum open spaceMaximum open spaceCentralized catering Centralized catering productionproductionEnergy efficient, state of the Energy efficient, state of the

art equipmentart equipmentLCD menu screensLCD menu screensDisplay, real-time food Display, real-time food preparationpreparationCombination served and self-Combination served and self-

serveserveC-Store expansion, AdminC-Store expansion, Admin

Offices & Post OfficeOffices & Post Office

Heilman’s Green Design Features

The Intelli-Hood® System

University of Richmond

Dining Services Sustainability Position

• The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) defines sustainability as “principles that seek to establish a dynamic balance between economic, environmental and social priorities, and to improve or maintain human and ecosystem well-being together, both now and into the long-term, locally and globally.”

University Dining Services Mission Statement

University of Richmond Dining Services is committed to providing each and every individual with exemplary service, outstanding quality food, with passion and commitment to excellence.

In keeping with our mission, we are committed to our community and to the environment.

We strive to discourage unnecessary waste and to efficiently use resources

GREEN PROGRAMMING

No Tray No Tray for a for a Day- Day-

April 22April 22

Sustainability & Food Purchasing

Tagan Engel, YSFP

Rafi Taherian, YUDS

Our SettingY Founded in 1701 as the

Collegiate School; it moved to New Haven in 1716 and was renamed Yale College in 1718.

Y An urban campus of 310 acres directly in downtown New Haven, a city of over 130,000.

Y Yale University is composed of:Y Yale College, Y The Graduate School of

Arts & SciencesY 13 professional schools.

• 11,400 students, slightly more than half are graduate students.

• All 50 states and 108 countries are represented; approximately 16% of our students are international.

• An organized dining program began in 1718 with the establishment of the first Commons.

Our Setting

Residential DiningY The heart of the University is

Yale College, the undergraduate colleges

Y 12 separate communities of approximately 400 students – Planning for 2 new colleges

is currently underwayY Each one has its own unique

dining hall. Styles range from New England Colonial to High Victorian Gothic, from Moorish Revival to contemporary.

Y The Hall of Graduate Studies serves 160 Graduate School of Arts & Sciences residents, most of whom are international. Their menu is unique.

Y Commons Dining Hall, opened in 1901, is our largest dining hall, serving about 3000 customers a day.

The Guide and the basics!“Sine Qua Non”

“Communication is to sustainability what Location is to real estate”

• Knowing the basic fundamentals• Learning the language• Setting up a plan• Institutional support and organizational commitment• Know what you want and learn the language:

– Organic, Grass-fed, Cage-free, Natural, …etc– What is a “Family Farm”– What is “Local”?– What is “Seasonal”?– What are “Sustainable Practices”?

First Steps:• Work with what is already there- then ask

for more• Tweak existing recipes to fit the season• Apple tart is as good as Pear tart

• Institutional Advantage– High volume, Predictable usage, Low marketing

cost, Irregular crop, …etc

Chemical fertilizers, Chemical herbicides or fungicides, Chemical pesticides, exclusively Organic pesticides, exclusively Large Agribusiness - monoculture farms, Poor labor practices

Organically Grown IPM, Ecologically grown, Transitional Organic, Non chemical soil fertilization, Non chemical pest management, Crop diversity, Good labor practices, Family farms or cooperatives

Natural promotion of soil and plant healthBEST

Large agribusiness and chemical farmingAVOID

Grain-fed livestock containing animal by-products, use of antibiotics, Use of Growth Hormones (rBST or rBGH) Confined, unsanitary living conditions, Cruel gestation and weaning practices

Milk and cheese from animals that are raised naturally, grazing on pasture and are not fed with cereal grains, antibiotics or given growth hormones. Animals should not be raised in confinement. Ideally, pasture should be free from chemical sprays. Additional food should be organic

Human treatment of animal overallBEST

Industrial feed-lot livestock facilityAVOID

Factory farmed eggs from birds raised in small cages or huge over-crowded barns. Conventional feed containing animal by-products, gmo grains and antibiotics to help them battle the illnesses brought on by their unsanitary living condition

Birds raised on pasture, roaming, grazing and given all vegetarian feed, free of antibiotics and animal by-products. Not raised in confinement. They should not have their beaks clipped or have other inhumane practices forced upon them

Human treatment of chickens overallBEST

Large factory farm eggsAVOID

Factory farmed eggs from birds raised in small cages or huge over-crowded barns. Conventional feed containing animal by-products, gmo grains and antibiotics to help them battle the illnesses brought on by their unsanitary living condition

Birds raised on pasture, roaming, grazing and given all vegetarian feed, free of antibiotics and animal by-products. Not raised in confinement. They should not have their beaks clipped or have other inhumane practices forced upon them

Human treatment of chicken overallBEST

Large factory farm chickensAVOID

Industrially raised livestock are reared in overcrowded inhumane conditions. They are raised on a grain based diet containing animal by-products, and hormones. This is not healthy for animals, the people consuming the meat or the environment.

Livestock that are raised grazing on pasture and were not fed cereal grains, antibiotics or given growth hormones. Animal should not be raised in confinement. Pasture should be free from chemical spray and additional food should be organic.

Human treatment of animals overallBEST

Industrial feed lot livestock facilitiesAVOID

Pigs raised in confined cages or over-crowded barns. Raised on concrete floors covered in feces with no hay for bedding. They are given a corn based feed containing animal by-products and antibiotics. The pregnant and nursing sows are kept in tiny cages without room to turn around and without hay for bedding

Human treatment of animals overallBEST

Industrial feed lot livestock facilitiesAVOID

Pigs should be raised on pasture where they can root, roam and forage and not in cages or confined barns. They need deep hay for bedding inside. While they may eat some grain, organic feed is best and small grains such as barley, oats, rye and wheat should be a part of the feed, not just corn. Pregnant or nursing sow should not be kept in the cage

Use these guides for list of Sustainable fish and question your suppliers:Seafood Watch- Monterey Bay Aquarium, Marine Stewardship Council

BEST

Basic Issues: Overfishing, Habitat Damage, Bycatch caught unintentionally and discarded, unsustainable fish farms, Mercury content in fish.

Problems with Fish Farms: Same as live stocks

Some good choices: Tilapia, catfish and trout are often farmed inland in the U.S. Tilapia is also a plant eating fish, so it doesn’t depend on wild fish (which could be unsustainably harvested) for food, which makes it an even more sustainable choice. Farmed oysters, clams and mussels are a good choice because they don’t need supplemental feeding and can be farmed with out damaging the natural environment

Fair Trade certified, Organic, Shade grown coffeeCoffee, Tea and Chocolate

Historically these three industries have been heavily based on exploitative working conditions and drastically underpaid labor.

Environmental impact: clear cutting of rainforests to make way for coffee growing and extensive air and water pollution from pesticide usage.

There are many good choices in the market place for both certi fied organic, certified fair trade and sustainably grown brands.

While these items are usually far from local, they are often not items an institution wants to do without. Check with your existing distributors to see what they already carry, with natural food distributors for more options, or with local coffee roasters to see if they carry an organic or fair-trade line.

Thank You!

This guide was proposed by the Yale Sustainable Food Project and funded through a grant from S.A.R.E. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. The Guide was researched, written and designed by Tagan Engel at the Yale Sustainable Food Project and Yale University Dining Services. Should you wish a copy of the complete guide, please leave a business card.

Questions?

Thank You!