|
Do you have comments or questions about sustainability with Lehigh Dining Services? Contact us at greenlehighdining@gmail.com
 Sodexo is committed to improving the quality of daily life for people, whenever and wherever they come together. To that end, Sodexo was one of the first contract food service companies to partner with Food Alliance. This non-profit organization promotes sustainable agriculture by recognizing and rewarding farmers who produce food in environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways. Together, Sodexo and Food Alliance take responsibility for educating our customers and others in the food system about the benefits of sustainable agriculture.
Every day, we make choices in the food we buy and the food we eat. This directly impacts our lives- not just what we eat, but the water we drink, the air we breathe and the health of our communities. Our Food Alliance guiding principles are:
- Protecting and conserving water resources
- Protecting and enhancing soil resources
- Conserving and recycling nutrients
- Reducing the environmental and health impacts of pesticides by practicing Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
- Conserving and enhancing wildlife habitat
- Providing safe and fair working conditions for our employees and our families
- Producing Food Alliance certified crops without the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO's)
- Provide healthy and humane care for livestock
- Continually improving farming/ranching practices ]
A Sodexo Sustainability Update!
Click here to learn about Sodexo's shift to Eggs from Cage-Free Hens
|
As a guest, it is easy to make smart environmental choices when you dine
at a Sodexo café. We know today's college students want to do the
right thing for the planet and we also understand you lead busy lives,
so your Sodexo chefs and managers do a lot of the work for you behind
the scenes!
From purchasing local
seasonal produce whenever possible to reducing inorganic and organic
waste, your campus team is dedicated to providing you with an
exceptional dining experience that is good for you and good for the
planet.
This commitment
was formalized with Sodexo's Better Tomorrow Plan. The Better Tomorrow
Plan includes 14 commitments for a brighter future by focusing on three
key priorities: health, community and planet. Learn more about the Better Tomorrow Commitments.
While your Sodexo
team works hard behind the scenes, they also count on student
engagement and enthusiasm to spread the word about what you're doing
together on your campus. We encourage you to work with your local
Sodexo management team to continue to innovate and improve
sustainability efforts in your community.
If you have additional comments or questions, please contact us. We would love to hear from you.
|
|
The Better Tomorrow Plan-Part2: Where are we today?
Our North America sustainability report is now available! This is our first performance based report for sustainability and is a big step forward for us in many ways. Please help us reduce waste and think twice before you print. |
 |
Your Better Choice in Seafood. Visit the Sodexo seafood website to find everything you need to know about where we get our products, the sustainable processes that we undergo, and more! <http://www.sodexoseafood.com >
Updated Info as of 9/8/2011: Contract Partner and Product Changes:
- Slade Gorton currently has a robust fresh seafood program in place with a network of regional distributors. Their ability to provide core fresh ICYBAY offerings – salmon, cod, flounder and tilapia – and the regional supplier’s ability to source regional specialty items will significantly increase the availability of certified sustainable products to our customers. Core fresh items are either already certified or, as is the case with salmon, are pending approval of global certification standards.
- Slade Gorton also offers a line of great tasting, culinary inspired value-added fresh items under their Gourmet Bay brand. Great tasting products like Sole with Lobster Stuffing, Salmon Pinwheels with Primavera Stuffing and Bourbon Marinated Salmon will be made available through our Regional Fresh Fish Distributor network.
- CleanFish has built their reputation on sourcing only from eco-friendly artisan producers. Through our approved network of fresh regional distributors, they will continue to deliver the best of the season.
|
|
Buy Fresh, Buy Local! Lehigh Dining is committed to providing the students with fresh and local produce when in season and available. Sodexo is continually reaching out to local farms to partner with our vendors in order to maintain the high quality and safe food we eat. Our two major vendors we purchase from partner with a variety of local farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For more information on on these farms and their locations, visit their websites by doing a standard web search. [ J. Ambrogi Farms ] [ Sysco Farms ] |
|
 |
Composting & Recycling: Our newest composting initiative is working with Rodale Farms to compost our pre-consumer food waste from our Brodhead Student Restaurant and Hawk’s Nest Dining facility at Lamberton Hall. This pilot program will begin with the 2011/2012 school-year and we hope to grow it to other dining locations on campus within the year. Our kitchen waste will be picked up by a recycling company and taken to Rodale Farms in Emmaus, PA., to be added to the compost pile and returned to the earth at Rodale Farms.
Since 2009, Rathbone Dining Hall has operated an automated compostable waste decomposition system to reduce pre and post consumer waste for a landfill. The composting system uses energy efficient, automated control processes and requires no additives or fresh water during the decomposition process. The end product is picked up by the University’s facilities team and turned in with the compost leaf pile on the Mountain Top Campus. In the UC, Cort Dining Room has finished the installation of the decomposition system and will be up and running for the 2011/2012 year.
The campus contracts with Greenstar, a single stream recycling company located in Northampton, PA. Single Stream recycling allows students, faculty and staff to recycle with ease by putting all recyclable products into one container. Look for the blue bin in all buildings on campus for your recyclable materials!
|
|
Lehigh Dining has taken another step toward sustainable dining by promoting Meatless Monday.
Why Meatless? Learn how eating meatless one day a week can reduce your risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity and other cardiovascular diseases. Other environmental benefits include reducing your carbon footprint, water usage and fossil fuel dependence. Click on meatlessmonday.com for more information. |
|
Reusable Products: We understand as a student you are often on the go and do not have time to sit and enjoy a meal in the student restaurant. We offer a convenient reusable to go program that allows you to eat on the go sustainably. By using the reusable container you help reduce waste by removing Styrofoam products from campus dining, conserve materials and resources and help minimize the cost of managing solid waste. Click here to view our on-site advertisement for the program. |
................ |
REUSABLE DISHWARE PROGRAM: Students can now reserve Reusable Dishware for an event. The Dishware includes plates, bowls, forks, knives, and spoons. This program is free of charge for the students and contributes to Lehigh Dining goal of being sustainable. Click here for more information |
|
Fair Trade: Lehigh Dining proudly serves Fair Trade Certified Coffee in all locations on campus. We offer Starbucks Shared Planet, Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified Coffees, using Starbucks cups made with 10% post consumer fiber and plastic cold cups and lids made with 15% less plastic. We also serve Seattle’s Best levels coffee and Aspretto Coffee Program. Aspretto is offered in our resident dining locations, Rathbone and Cort Dining Rooms. Aspretto is fair trade purchased and trans fair certified.
|
|
Lehigh Dining has negotiated a waste management contract with Filta
Fry, the world's finest cooking oil filtration and fryer management
service. Filta Fry offers a green, eco-friendly, onsite
micro-filtration of cooking oil, fryer cleaning and temperature
calibration to increase the efficiency of equipment resulting in a
higher quality product. For more information, visit www.filtafry.com.
|
|
Trayless: In the spring semester of 2009, Lehigh Dining went trayless across campus. Research shows that when trays are removed from dining locations, less food is wasted, less energy is consumed, and it reduces the amount of water detergents used. On average, food waste decreased by about 1 oz. per plate, which would otherwise end up in a landfill. |
|
STOP Hunger: Since 1999, the Sodexo Foundation has been committed to being a driving and creative force that contributes to a hunger-free nation. In order to eliminate hunger that affects 36 million people in the U.S., we must fight its root causes... [ more ] |
|
- Sodexo's Environmental Action Program is complex and multifaceted, offering solid information and tools to make our customers, clients, employees, and society at large aware of environmental problems and how they can help.
- Sodexo is committed to social responsibility, especially those surrounding our food supply. Everyday we make food choices. And, whenever possible, we will select foods that meet or exceed the standards set forth with the Food Alliance. So, be sure to look for the Food Alliance seal. It's better for you; better for the environment and better for our farmers. Please help us to improve the quality of daily life for the communities we serve.
- Manufacturing Partners: Sodexo has been an active member of industry coalitions which encourage legislators, manufacturers and consumers to jointly develop rational, not reactionary, strategies to today's environmental needs... [ more ]
|
|
XPressnap Napkin: Take one napkin at a time! Our Xpressnap Napkin holders reduce waste generation by guaranteeing a 25% decrease in napkin usage. We use unbleached recycled napkins in our dining locations. |
|
