Dartmouth dining facilities are among the most strategic locations to tackle sustainability. Typically, these operations use considerable packaging and energy, and generate large volumes of solid and liquid waste. Dartmouth Dining Services (DDS) has worked to address some of these issues by increasing its purchase of local and organic food, composting food waste where possible, and supporting social marketing efforts to reduce use of disposable containers. Transitioning toward sustainable dining is a logical first step is to reduce waste which is both financially and ecologically expensive.
In the summer of 2006, the Dartmouth Sustainability Office, in collaboration with the student groups and college officials, revamped Home Plate dining hall with the goal of changing people's habits from disposability to a more environmentally sound dining experience. Home Plate, located in the south side of Thayer Hall, has the following mission:
"To provide the Dartmouth Community with alternative menu options; including low fat, low cholesterol, low sodium, and high fiber entrees and accompaniments. Emphasis is on quality, freshness, nutrition and appealing presentation."
This initiative-officially launched September 19, 2006-focused on further boosting Home Plate's appeal by eliminating many disposables and initiating a composting program to close the loop between waste and food.
Now at Home Plate, almost all of the formerly packaged foods, including milk cartons, condiments and sodas, are served from bulk containers. Disposable tableware has been replaced with reusable. The few packaged items for which no substitutes could be found are sorted and recycled, and all food waste is composted and put directly back into the campus landscaping. The goal, quite simply, is to change the diner's mindset. In the world Dartmouth students will inherit, habits of zero-waste will become the norm.
Sustainable dining changes at Homeplate include:
To support Home Plate's efforts, the Dartmouth Sustainability Initiative also launched its "Taste not Waste" campaign, designed to promote conscious dining and waste reduction efforts. Students and dining services worked to install a mural, educational displays, table-top tips, and other consciousness-raising opportunities in the dining hall area. Educational and social marketing efforts such as these provide an effective means of embedding concepts such as Cradle to Cradle, embodied energy, and ecological footprinting into the everyday dining experience.
In 2006, Dartmouth piloted the Sustainable Dining Club to 100 people on campus. Members received a free kit designed to make waste-free dining possible anywhere on campus. The kit included a leak-proof Nalgene bottle, an eco-mug, a cloth napkin, silverware, a carabineer and a washable takeout container. Members also received a membership card that entitled them to receive a reusable takeout container and returns were on the honor system. Although many participants appreciated the program, ultimately, Dartmouth Dining Services did not recover all of the containers and the program has been discontinued. We hope to find ways to address the problems encountered and redevelop the program in the future.
As a result of this project, Dartmouth Dining Services now purchases food directly from the following farms/local businesses located in NH and VT:
Local foods served in the dining halls include (but are not limited to): milk, yogurt, butter, cage-free eggs, cheese, bison and beef burgers, elk sausages, apples, apple cider, maple syrup, strawberries and raspberries, melons, corn on the cob, and other vegetables in season. See Dartmouth Dining Services Specialty Foods for more information about local, vegetarian, and vegan food offerings.
In order to raise awareness about local foods, several dining locations display informative signs describing the Farm-to-Dartmouth project. In addition, local products are labeled with the Farm-to-Dartmouth logo where possible.
In fiscal year 2006/2007, over $260,000 worth of food came from local agricultural producers, representing approximately 4% of total purchases.
Top of pageDartmouth has hosted several events designed to promote sustainable dining:
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Located just 3 miles north of campus on Rte. 10, the Dartmouth Organic Farm relies fully on student labor. The students involved with the farm consult with Farm Manager Scott Stokoe about which crops to plant each year and how to tend them. During the summer months, the farm supplies Collis Cafe with fresh produce. Recent additions to the farm include a timber-framed maple sugar shack, a solar-powered greenhouse, and a wood-fired bread oven. E-mail TheFarm for more information.
The Ecovores aim to increase campus awareness about where our food comes from and the economic, social, and environmental tradeoffs between various modes of agricultural production. The group builds connections with Upper Valley farmers and producers to support a more local, sustianable food supply. In the long run, the group hopes to work with Dartmouth Dining Services to expand the Farm-to-Dartmouth Initiative and provide more options to students who wish to be educated consumers and eat more responsibly.
