National & State Recognition In November 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recognized Keene Sate Dining Services for our efforts in Education and Outreach on the topics of Food Waste and Food Waste Reduction. The award honors our efforts around our “carrot campaign.” The campaign includes frequent food audits, a “spokesvegetable” and a mascot named “The Carrot,” which tries to convey everything that goes into getting food onto our plates, such as where it’s grown, how it travels and the resources required to do so. “The Carrot” can be seen on fliers and sometimes in person around campus presenting facts about preventing food waste and information about the progress made on campus. We also put together a “waste buffet” a few times per year. After students return their plates at the dining hall, dishroom staff collect any food items that were untouched and put them on display. Enough food is collected to fill a whole table. This visual component of the college’s campaign is part of why it has been so successful. “It makes something that’s kind of like implied or not really tangible and it brings it to life,” says Heather Greenwood, Keene State’s sustainable material management specialist. Keene State has participated in the EPS’s Food Recovery Challenge since it started in 2011. Over the past four years, Keene State has reduced its food waste by 30 tons, according to Greenwood. This is the first national award the college has received from the EPA since joining the challenge. The college was recognized specifically this year for its campaign with Sodexo.
Sustainable Seafood Sourcing
By Rich Blanchard, Sodexo Senior Marketing Manager
Seafood consumption has doubled over the last 40 years. As an important part of healthy diets, fish constitutes 17% of the global population’s protein intake and as these numbers continue to grow Sodexo has made sustainable seafood a cornerstone of its sustainable sourcing approach. Here at Keene State we also take a lot of pride in our ability to serve sustainably sourced fish directly from the Gulf of Maine, which extends from Cape Cod north through the southern tip of Nova Scotia. This is especially prevalent on our Fresh Fish Fridays in the Zorn Dining Commons. Through cooperation from our distributors, we can even post the vessel and fishing port the catch came from! According to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Sustainable Seafood Brand Manager, Kyle Foley, “Living in a coastal region, many people might assume that most of the seafood we eat is from the Gulf of Maine's waters, but in fact, we import a lot of the flaky white fish we eat.” Roughly 91% of the whitefish consumed in the US comes from international waters. With so much abundant fresh seafood nearby, this is a disservice to our local communities and the local fishing industry. Sodexo locations in Maine have partnered with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to source 100% Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested® whitefish by 2020. Through this effort Sodexo is helping to keep spend local which directly impacts the local communities where we serve. Sodexo is even taking an extra step, by furthering our pledge to include only underutilized whitefish, which includes Acadian redfish, Atlantic pollock, dogfish (cape shark), mackerel, and whiting. Colby College and University of New England have already met the 100% sourcing goal. We are happy that Sodexo is leading the way in bringing sustainable and responsibly harvested seafood to colleges and universities like Keene State. Look for more locally sourced seafood on our menu in the weeks and months to come. For more information on sustainable seafood sourcing at Keene State College, reach out to Executive Chef Rich Ducharme (rducharme1@keene.edu). For more information on Sodexo’s commitment and partnership with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, check it out on youtube.com, Sodexo Maine Coure Commitment.
Connections on Campus Rich Blanchard, our Senior Marketing Manager with Sodexo, was a guest lecturer in Chitra Akkorr’s Research Methods course this semester. He was able to showcase how he has used student insights to shape program development, implementation, and build marketing and business plans as part of his job. Blanchard was also able to convey the present realities of working virtually while staying connected as he works toward branding and strategic communication as a Marketing Manager. We will also be parterning with three professors on campus to help support our operations. We are partnering with Mark Arends, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Product Design and Architecture, Chitra Akkorr, Assistant Professor of Communication and Philosophy, and Lynn Richardson, Associate Professor, Chair of the Art Department. CONNECT WITH US!
keenestatedining.sodexomyway.com
SUSTAIN(ABility)
At Bean & Bagel we purchase locally roasted fair trade coffee from Prime Roast in downtown Keene.
Localvore Lunch
Not even a generation ago, choosing local foods was overlooked by many college campuses. With a greater understanding of how each purchase effects the sustainability of the surrounding community, students can internalize these concepts that foster a greater impact as they move on from KSC. Choosing to purchase locally promotes a safer food supply by using ingredients that are handled less and have less potential for contamination. Local foods usually have significantly greater flavor and are more sustainable due to the seasonal nature of what is available. Choosing foods shipped from thousands of miles away requires much more energy and impacts the environment in very direct ways, leading to higher overall “cost” associated with each purchase. While purchasing locally seems to have a high price tag, the benefit gained from these purchases has minimal to no negative impact.
Last year, Sodexo saved over 1,071,480 pounds of preconsumer food waste, equal to the CO2 emissions of 47,543 gallons of gas.
Beyond Localvore, we frequently purchase from 82 different farms and suppliers, and always try to connect with our local vendors. The buzz of Localvore lunch weaves itself across campus and draws many students and faculty. It not only creates a greater sense of community, but it decreases the distance between consumer and producer, establishing a greater sense of value. Introducing local products to students while in the Dining Commons instills the values that purchasing locally fosters.
82%
Food Waste Collection
Sodexo North America produce suppliers carry more than 1/3 of their products from local farms.
Changing human behavior can be challenging when the consequences are unseen. In the Dining Commons, we are confronted with educating and meeting the needs of our largest client, our students. As we develop programming around reducing food waste, we look to connect with students in significant and meaningful ways. As part of Sodexo’s larger sustainability plan, we are connecting students with our over arching food waste education program which been shaped by our student Sustainability Intern, Mike Valle. This intervention assessed both pre-plated and self-service food options over the course of 6 meals. The project was carried out by six students from Dr. Nora Traviss’ Environmental Health course. Their baseline measurements were collected from food on plates returned to the dishroom. During two lunch and dinner meals, a baseline measurement of 350 lbs of food were wasted from students leaving the dining facility. The average wasted food per student was 0.14 lbs or 2.24 oz per student. Hosting only one intervention, the Food Waste Buffet, and asking selected students a 50 question questionnare, we were able to curb food waste by 0.04 lbs, averaged between lunch and dinner. Food waste is constantly on our minds and we strive to show our responsbility to reduce food waste with these interventions. We service over 5,000 meals daily and with over 14,000 pounds of product coming through our doors each week. We are committed to creating conscious and responsible students.
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iCommit Challenge The iCommit Sustainability Challenge is an awareness tool to harness momentum across campuses and different Sodexo divisions by showing people’s commitment to sustainability. We took the opportunity to present iCommit to our campus by running a contest in March and April. The challenge has been a powerful tool to communicate the value of making small changes to improve the world. Collectively, these small committments make a huge impact as we continue to fight toward building a better planet. Some of the commitments students made were choosing to walk when the destination is less than a mile away, turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth, taking shorter showers, and talking to your neighbor (building a sense of community). Still others made thier own creative committment. This initiative was spawned by the desire to educate and help students begin making small changes in their lives. If entry numbers is a sign of success, the iCommit challenge was extremely successful. We gave away multiple prizes including tickets to the Museum of Science Boston for the students who committed to make lasting changes.
In 2014, more than 75% of the seafood served by Sodexo met our criteria from Sustainable seafood.
Sodexo is committed to actively contributing to the ecosystem by sustaining a diverse fishing economy in the Gulf of Maine region.
of Sodexo accounts, including KSC are recovering cooking oil, giving it a second life as sustainable biofuel.