Food Waste Focus

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has been developing a sustainability self-rating tool for colleges and universities called the Sustainablity Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS).  It includes credits for dining services and waste management. AASHE just released a report on the STARS Pilot Test.   This report found that, of [...]

The Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) cares for veterans across the US at hundreds of hospitals and clinics. As a result, they serve a lot of food and have worked diligently to improve the sustainability of their operation. A VHA foodservice professional recently shared their “Sustainability Checklist” with me – it’s the product of extensive work [...]

Green Seal, the familiar name that certifies the environmental benefits of many cleaning products, recently released a new standard (GS-46) for Green Restaurant and Foodservice Operations.  The standard involved almost a year of development and was created with a rigorous, open process than involved extensive public comment.   I served on the technical committee and saw [...]

Did you know? – Restaurants and foodservice buildings use more energy per square-foot than any other type of commercial building. Industry-wide, an estimated 80 percent of the energy is wasted through inefficient equipment. That waste eats away at profit margins. I recently met with Tricia McGuire from the Energy Trust of Oregon to discuss waste [...]

The Green Guide for Healthcare recently released it’s updated Operations section (version 2.2) which includes credits for foodservice waste reduction. Visit the Green Guide to read the details, which are in Section 6.1 on Food Waste Reduction, Donation and Composting. This is an excellent resource for any healthcare foodservice director. It provides a clear roadmap [...]