EFS Profiles
Dining services environmental initiatives
Bates College
Lewiston, Maine
Purpose: Community Involvement, Greening the Campus, Institutional Transformation
Please note that the copyright for this profile is retained by the institution.
Bates Dining Services is an example of how college staff, students and members of the greater community can work together to create a program that is beneficial to all. Working with representatives from the student body, the faculty, administration and staff , Bates Dining was able to implement a program that is bridging the distance between Bates' processes and the community and environment. The program began as an attempt to increase composting and has evolved into a complete loop with benefits to the Bates and local community.
Bates Dining looked at possible changes that would reduce wastes coming from the college, reduce costs, and benefit the health of local farmers and businesses, as well as the health of the student body. Bob Volpi, director of Food and Dining, sums up the goals of the program: "We are committed to finding ways to improve our environment within the educational setting, improving the quality of the food we serve, reducing waste and ecological effects, helping the local area, and reducing cost." All of these objectives are being met, plus many other added benefits, through responsible purchasing, composting, and recycling initiatives. Bates Dining seeks to reduce the amount of waste going to the city landfill, and reduce the costs associated with this food waste, by composting preconsumer food scraps and unbleached, recycled paper napkins at a local farm. A number of initiatives, many of which involve cooperative efforts with the broader community, include local farmers and the Hope Haven Gospel Mission (a local soup kitchen and shelter) and MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, of which Bates is a member), are in full swing to achieve and surpass these goals.
Responsible purchasing is one of the focal points of Bates Dining's environmental initiatives. One of the criteria that is looked at when considering a company's product is their environmental commitment. An example of this is the recent change to Stonyfield yogurt. Stonyfield containers can be collected at the Lewiston Solid Waste Facility and then recycled. Stonyfield is also available in bulk which allows Bates Dining to reduce excess packaging. Another example is the bulk cereal. Cereal is bought in bulk and placed in tupperware containers, which cuts down on the amount of cardboard packaging.
Bates Dining also has a dedicated local purchasing effort. In 1994, Dining Service staff started making connections with area farmers to purchase local, organically grown food. The collaborative purchasing effort between Russell Libby of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), Bill Seekins of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Richard Verville of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and key players at Bates including Executive Chef Bradford Slye, led to a loose co-op of local farmers who provide seasonal, organic food for the college. Before each growing season begins, staff meet with the local farmers to specify crops Dining Services would like to buy.
One of the obvious benefits of the food purchasing and composting is the pesticide free, fresh produce available to the Bates community. Another benefit is waste reduction. Because the cost of disposing of waste at the compost farm is less than the cost of disposal at the Lewiston landfill, the program has also served to reduce costs for the college. The collaboration between the local farmers of MOFGA, Wayne Ricker, and Bates personnel has been beneficial for all involved. It has improved relations between Bates and the local community. Finally, food services has brought the college one step closer to existing sustainably within its environment, from buying local, seasonally and organically grown food to composting the waste, and recycling. A loop is completed when the food that is grown locally returns to the college grounds as fertilizer.
There are many obstacles that come with implementing a purchasing plan such as this one, including Maine's short growing season and potential increased costs of buying smaller quantities of produce. However, with the insight and the willingness to collaborate with all the other parties involved, this program has become a success.
Thanks to Physical Plant staff, Bates has an organic garden on Wood Street, first planted in the summer of 1996. Produce is harvested by staff and students and is incorporated into the Bates menu.
The environmental impact of supplies is also considered. The napkins available in commons are unbleached, 100% recycled. Used napkins are collected and composted at a nearby farm along with preconsumer food waste. In the fall of 1996, Bates Dining hired BRADCO, a company in Lisbon, Maine to refurbish the tables in the larger dining room in Commons by reusing old table legs and replacing the tops. In addition, Bates purchased chairs made by the BRADCO company. The ash wood used to make the furniture was grown sustainably in Maine.
Composting
Another area of dedication for Dining Services is reducing waste. Preconsumer food waste, such as vegetable peelings, is picked up by Gary's Waste Hauling and brought to Wayne Ricker's farm in Lisbon Falls. Ricker uses the scraps and used napkins in his composting. Bates buys back some of the compost to use for campus landscaping.
The composting and food purchasing programs integrate natural resource conservation, economic progress, and human development. The composting program reduces waste headed for the landfill, promotes efficient use of food resources, and returns much needed nutrients to the land through more benign methods then pesticides and chemical fertilizers. At the same time, it is economically sensible since it is cheaper for Bates to bring food scraps to the Ricker farm than to dispose of them at the landfill. The mutually beneficial and collaborative efforts between Ricker and Bates improves communication between local farmers and Bates. The success of this program relies upon the continuing cooperation between Ricker and the college.
Bob Volpi and other Bates workers are keeping records of the progress and benefits of the programs, including data about economic savings of food scraps composted, and what is being bought from local, organic farms, so that the Dining Service staff see the results of their extra time and effort.
Outreach
An outreach component of the program, started in 1992, is to provide Hope Haven Gospel Mission, a Lewiston Christian soup kitchen and shelter, with food on a daily basis. Each day uneaten food in the Bates cafeteria is picked up and used to feed poor and homeless city residents. The food from Bates feeds fifty to a hundred people daily. Bates also donates other useful supplies, such as a walk in refrigerator, oven, and similar, needed cooking equipment.
Recycling
In addition, the Bates Food Services also has a recycling component. Items that are recycled include tin cans, bottles, cardboard and plastic. Recyclables are sorted and brought to the Lewiston landfill. An important part of the recycling program is working closely with suppliers of products and giving preference to those which have environmental programs in place. An example is Stonyfield yogurt which Dining Services buys in bulk, and the containers can be recycled locally. Bates Food Services also makes a strong effort to avoid the use of paper products such as cups and plates whenever possible. For example, at Bates barbecues, you will find reusable plates.
Food Waste Disposal
The food waste used to be collected in a bin system and went into the sewer after going through a garbage disposal. The garbage disposal was running an average of ten hours a day. This adds up to 3300 gallons of water a day (using an average of 5.5 gallons a minute). In one week during short term, about 4,000 pounds of food is wasted, or about 4.4 ounces per meal. This food waste is believed to be the cause of high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) which is an indicator of biological activity and oxygen uptake. If the BOD level is too high in a river, the result may be the depletion of dissolved oxygen and loss of river life and water quality.
Bates, as a significant waterwaste discharger and the largest "restaurant" in the area, has its sewage monitored. The treatment plant has to pay for costs associated with using ammonia and phosphorous along with the addition of oxygen in the treatment of wastewater to reduce BOD levels. Bates and other major dischargers are now paying for high BOD levels to off set the costs incurred by the treatment plant.
Last year, Bates Dining installed the Collector S914, an industrial sized strainer that collects food instead of letting it go down the garbage disposal, thereby greatly reducing the amount of organic matter going into the sewer system. This has greatly lowered the BOD that the college releases into the sewers. The collector will also greatly reduce the amount of water used to rinse off the dishes. The strainer only needs two gallons a minute (compared to 5 or 6 gallons of water previously used) which is continually recycled by pumping the water back through the system.
Straining the food waste may help the BOD problem but it does nothing to reduce the amount of food waste. The Bates community can help by being conscious of the food they take and what happens to the uneaten portions of food. Just like in the case of napkins, Bates students can make a conscious effort to only take the food they can eat. When trying new foods, or not very hungry, it is easy to ask for a half portion and get seconds later. Dining staff are working on making smaller portions available. Through a joint effort, the Bates community can reduce the amount of food waste it generates by doing these simple things.
Bates College Dining Services recently won a National Award for Sustainability (Food and Agriculture) for its innovations in creating a more sustainable dining service. The award was presented by Renew America and the President's Council on Sustainable Development at the 1999 National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America. Bates also received the Dana and Christopher Reeve Environmental Leadership Award at the National Town Meeting.
For additional information:
Bates College Dining: Environmental Initiatives
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