Sustainable Dining

Welcome to Sustainable Dining!
Take advantage of all the sustainable choices and programs that Ithaca Dining Services has to offer! Each month look for a selected topic to focus on Sustainable Dining.

Sustainable topics for the 2007 – 2008 school year:

August: Introduction of Sustainable. Healthy. Fresh.
Sustainable.Healthy.Fresh. is the next level of achievement for Ithaca College Dining Services.   We recognize Ithaca College's commitment to sustainability and would like to play an even greater role in the sustainability movement.   In addition, we identify our consumers are demanding healthier choices with fresher, higher-quality ingredients with lower environmental impacts.

September: Organic Harvest Month/Fresh Food Market
Organic Harvest Month is a time to celebrate!   The Organic Trade Association (OTA) chooses September to be a month of focusing attention on the benefits of America's organic agriculture and to enforce encouragement to choose organic products over processed foods.   Organic Harvest Month also includes educating the public on what organic truly stands for, what it provides, and why it's worth buying.

The Fresh Food Market is in the Tower's Dining Hall offering sustainable, natural, locally grown, and organic foods. The menu evolves with the changing of the seasons and all food is served to order, reducing the amount of waste.   The Fresh Food Market is available for lunch and dinner, so stop in and check it out!

October: National Fair Trade Month/National Vegetarian Month
October is National Fair Trade Month! But you may be wondering what Fair Trade means? Fair Trade empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. By guaranteeing minimum floor prices and social premiums, Fair Trade enables producers to invest in their farms and communities and to protect the environment. Fair Trade is much more than a fair price, as it entitles fair labor conditions, direct trade, community organization, and environmental sustainability.

National Vegetarian Month is also a great reason to love October.   Not only does it honor vegetarians, but it also helps raise awareness about alternatives to eating meat and highlights the benefits to living a vegetarian lifestyle.

November: America Recycles Day/How Ithaca Dining Services Recycles
Get excited about recycling!   America Recycles Day is dedicated to increasing the awareness of how important recycling is for our environment.   America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day that encourages Americans to recycle and to purchase recycled products. This month is also focused on Ithaca Dining Services in their efforts to recycle and to keep the environment safer and cleaner.   Ithaca College has several recyclable trash bins to encourage students to think, in environment terms, of the appropriate ways to discard their water bottles and paper, along with other recyclable items.

December: Sustainability through the Holidays
Did you know that more than 25% extra waste is generated during the holiday season than any other time throughout the year?   This means an increase in trash by one million tons per week!   This holiday season, we are making a commitment to cut down on wrapping paper, and instead using old newspapers and magazines, or by buying recycled holiday cards.   There are many fun and innovative ideas to cut down on waste through the holidays so this month is dedicated to the awareness of ways to be environmentally friendly during a prized season!

January/February: Sustainable Partnerships (vendor partners and student organizations)
Ithaca College's dining services strive to comply with sustainable partnerships to increase our efforts in giving back to the community.   Some partnerships include NatureWorks, the makers of the corn-based bio-plastic containers which are 100% compostable, the SCA Tissue North America providing our napkins which are made from brown high-recycled-content, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Starbucks, and Guayaki Yerba Mate (teas derived from organically grown) are all certified Fair Trade products and offered in dining halls and other eateries around campus.   Ithaca College strives to support local, organic, and fair trade partners to better our dining community.

March: Organic Foods/National Agriculture Day/National Nutrition Month
What's so great about organic food anyways?   Many people don't understand the hype about organic foods and this month we will explore the benefits and advantages they bring.   Certified organic foods simply mean they are grown without the use of pesticides, hormones, genetic engineering, or sewage.   Products are processed without artificial ingredients or preservatives.   March is also dedicated to National Agriculture Day and National Nutrition Month.   Agriculture Day honors agriculture for providing safe and abundant products, a strong economy, and affordability. National Nutrition Month involves the American Dietetic Association (ADA) as it launches an educational campaign every March dedicated to helping individuals recognize the importance of making good food choices and developing sound eating and exercise habits.  

April/May: Earth Day/National Composting Awareness Week
As spring is set upon us, we celebrate how beautiful our earth is and the importance of preserving its beauty!   Earth Day is dedicated to keeping our earth clean and to build awareness on the importance of recycling, composting, and keeping our environment safe and healthy.   National Composting Awareness Week is another event that works towards bettering our earth.   Composting is the controlled decay of organic materials, which includes anything that used to be living such as yard trimmings, leaves, kitchen scraps, wood chips, and paper materials.   Composting also includes nutrient-rich compost, which can be used to supplement topsoil.   This month encourages our effort to a safer, cleaner environment for all!

Ithaca Dining Services has been ahead of the curve of college and university dining services in terms of integrating sustainability into its operations. Some highlights of our campus achievements include:

Sustainable Resident Dining

• Fresh Food Market (Towers Dining Hall), offers organic and/or locally grown foods, serving 680 meals per week, 20,400 meals per year
• Towers Dining Hall offers only humane-certified cage-free eggs
• Food waste from all dining halls preparation and service is collected and sent for processing to Cayuga Composting, a local compost facility
• Corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) compostable packaging products are used for the In the Bag and Grab and Go carry-out lunch programs, compostable serviceware is also used
• All dining halls feature Fair Trade Green Mountain Coffee, a proud supporter of Fair Trade practices for its producers around the globe
• Towers Dining Hall has a Food Salvage Program in which they partner with The United Way to provide 30 meals to Freeville Food Pantry every Friday while school is in session
• Portion sizes are controlled by offering served meals, thus providing better support for healthy diets and reducing the amount of wasted food
• All serviceware utilized in retail dining is compostable and disposable
  

Sustainable Retail Dining

• Resource Environmental Management Program (REMP) and Ithaca Dining Services teamed up to begin working toward making the IC Square compostable with the purchase of biodegradable cutlery and containers, which have been in use since the beginning of the semester. There are three compost bins placed throughout IC Square, replacing the trash bins. Students and faculty are able to compost just about anything. Such items consist of food scraps, napkins, straws, paper cups, and all Smart Market containers.
• Polylactic acid (PLA) compostable packaging products are used for prepared food items like salads, sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, and fruit cups in the Smart Market retail outlet. Smart Market items are featured in the IC Square Food Court, Café @ the Park School, and CHS Coffee Cart.
• Select locations offer recycle mugs with discounts given for refills of coffee and carbonated soft drinks to encourage more frequent use of the mugs and to reduce waste. Sodexho donates $.15 from the proceeds of every mug sold to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
• All retail dining locations feature Green Mountain Coffee Roasters or Starbucks®; both proud supporters of Fair Trade practices. All Green Mountain Coffee is sold in an eco-friendly cup.
• Introduction of Guayaki Yerba Mate at Grand Central Café and Sub Connection – the teas are derived from organically grown and fair trade certified yerba leaves.

Sustainable Catering

• In June 2005, Ithaca College Catering began the sustainability movement by announcing new compostable cups made from PLA (corn-based Poly Lactic Acid). These compostable cups are used at all events which serve cold beverages
• Ithaca College Catering offers zero waste for campus events. As the style of event dictates, clients can specify reusable china, glassware, silverware, and cloth napkins or compostable and biodegradable paper and corn-based PLA products. When available, catering staff coordinates with the Resource and Environmental Management Program (REMP) to provide signage and collection barrels for compostable items and food scraps

Sustainable Partnerships

• NatureWorks®, the makers of PLA plastics. These corn-based bio-plastic containers are 100% compostable and can be found in almost every dining services location where take-out food is available
• SCA Tissue North America, maker of the brown high-recycled-content and completely compostable napkins that you see in most all locations on campus.
• Workers from Challenge Industries are employed in campus dish rooms, providing meaningful employment and skill-building to individuals with disabilities and other employment barriers.
• Food Alliance, a certifier of sustainable food practices; and the Sustainable Food Laboratory, a project of the Global Leadership Institute that works to move sustainably-produced food from niche markets to the mainstream
• Partnership with several campus organizations including: REMP, TRANSform, ICare, and the Sustainable Conscious Living Community
• Academic partnership with faculty from the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance who teach nutrition courses
• Partnerships with Finger lakes wine producers, which makes available regionally-produced New York State wines for campus events and for service at Tower Club Restaurant
  

If you have a question regarding our Sustainable efforts, please email Ithaca Dining Services at dine@ithaca.edu.