Dining Services Sustainability

Dining Services is a leader in sustainability and constantly strives to find more ways to contribute to green initiative on campus. The following is an overview of initiative implemented throughout Dining Services' operations. If you would like more information about these initiatives or future efforts, please contact us.

Food

Daily Offerings

  • All wild rice comes from the Red Lake Nation in Minnesota.
  • Juneberry ice cream made locally
  • All fresh potatoes (baked, roasted, mashed, etc) are local and organic from Hugh's Gardens. 13,650 fresh potatoes are used annually.
  • Pan O'Gold bread is made with locally grown and milled flour and sugar.
  • Serving Gold'n Plump chicken breasts from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
  • Local pasta from Dakota Growers
  • Local honey from Three Bears Honey.
  • Locally produced jalapeno pesto in Anderson Commons.
  • Anderson Commons and The Maize offer Fair Trade Certified Coffee.
  • Coffee Stop serves Rainforest Alliance Coffee

Occasional Offerings

  • Vegetables and fruit coming from local area when in season and available. Items include: apples, beans, corn, squash, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers and several more.
  • Cobberwurst, developed specifically for Concordia, is made in Detroit Lakes with local beef and cheese.
  • Locally grown, free range turkeys served each year at annual Thanksgiving Dinner in Anderson Commons.

Past Efforts

  • Local apples all fall from Lake Ida apple farm; approximately 40 cases (2007)
  • Planted herbs in the camps greenhouse that will be used in recipes in Dining Services. (2009)
  • Featured local bison burgers. (2009)

Waste Reduction

  • Anderson Commons becomes a trayless dining facility based on recommendations led by the Sustainability task force, reducing food waste by 40 percent in the first year. Average food waste is about 25% now compared to when Anderson utilized trays.
  • Replaced disposable salt and pepper shakers in Anderson Commons with permanent shakers. Waste reduced by 720 plastic shakers per year.
  • Give fruit and vegetable scraps to the science department to feed animals.


Recycling

  • All plastic bags used in Dining Services recycled through Hornbachers. Over 3,000 plastic bags per month are recycled.
  • Recycle cardboard, paper, glass, aluminum, tin, and plastic. (50% of the cardboard, 25% of the mixed plastic and 100% of the steel/tin collected and recycled on campus comes from Dining Services).
  • Provide used fryer oil to Midwest Grease to use for biofuel and livestock feed ingredients.
  • Grease inceptor installed in the sink captures grease, including grease from pots and pans, which is then recycled.
  • In the main Anderson Commons dish room, water is filtered and recycled, saving hundreds of gallons of water a year.
  • 200 tempered glass coffee mugs were recycled in 2012.
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Equipment
  • Use floor cleaner that uses water rather than chemicals.
  • Stove hoods installed that improve indoor air quality and efficiency up to 50%.
  • Installed an energy efficient dish machine in Anderson that captures steam and uses the energy to heat water through a heat waste recovery system, a system that is required in Europe due to energy savings. Energy savings in this machine are 50% a year.


  • Electricity
  • Utilize electronic menu boards instead of printing on paper. Screens in Anderson Commons are energy star certified.LED Christmas lights placed on the trees, garland and wreaths.  The new lights use 88% to 93% percent less energy than traditional Christmas lights.
  • During operating hours in Anderson Commons, only fluorescent lights are used in the dining room. DS began experimenting with using NO lights on bright days, and adding an additional setting using only minimal lighting on days that are a little darker.
  • Utilizing steam from the boiler plant in order to power equipment.
  • Freezers equipped with curtains to stop cold air from escaping.
  • Compact fluorescent light bulbs are equipped with motion sensors so electricity is only used when need be.
  • Changed all incandescent bulbs possible to CFLs, including in coolers & freezers
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      • Switched chemicals used in the Anderson dish machine, which now uses less chemicals per load than before.
      • Using an environmentally friendly ice melt spray on the walkways outside entrance doors. It is extremely effective and has the added benefit of not tracking damaging sand and grit inside onto floors and rugs.


        In The Maize, Korn Krib or Coffee Stop
      • Only reusable bags are offered in The Maize or Korn Krib.
        Began offering a .25 discount on coffee in The Maize and Coffee Stop when guest supplies a reusable mug.
    • Chemicals 
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      • All take-away packaging for retail now from renewable resources/biodegradable (except souffleé cups and pizza boxes)
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Information For:

current students
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