换妻社区

Dining Services

Water Quality and Reduction Initiatives

• Use of phosphorus-free dish detergent
• Went trayless in 2010, saving 120,000 gallons of water and eliminating tons of food waste each year
• Refrigerated salad bar requires less energy and water than ice
• Installed a new high effiency dishwasher in 2025

Waste Reduction Initiatives

• Compost food waste and paper materials
• Partner with Alternative Energy Solutions (AES) to recycle our waste vegetable oil and convert it to biodiesel used to produce electricity
• Donate excess prepared food to the as part of of
• 43% of all food and goods are grown, packaged or manufactured within 250 miles
• Utilization of an on-campus herb and micro-greens growing system in parternership with
• Recycle over 120,000 cardboard boxes each year as well as tin, glass and plastic
• Napkins are made from 100% recycled paper and processed without chlorine
• Food and napkin waste is mechanically mulched to reduce volume by 50% before composting
• Use environmentally friendly disposable products made of PLA (corn-based), potato, and pre- and post-consumer waste items
• Food containers at athletic concessions are compostable or recyclable
• Used food service equipment is sold or dismantled and recycled where possible

Keeping Hope Care Pantry

Nonperishable food and personal care items for students facing food insecurity. Room 017 on the ground floor of the Bultman Student Center. This is organized by the Student Life Office in partnership with the Office of Sustainability and Dining Services.

Purchasing

• Tracking purchases from food and beverage companies within 150 miles from our dining locations
• Continual growth of our network of smaller, local, regional farmers and producers
• Building a robust vendor partner portfolio of producers of sustainable products bearing third party designations such as Marine Stewardship Certified, Cage-Free, Fair Trade Certified
• Partnering with the Humane Society of the United States and integrating principles into our menus.
• Purchasing items grown, manufactured or produced within 150 miles
  • The benefits of local purchasing support local agriculture, manufacturing and small business development
  • Dollars spent locally reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to shorter transportation routes, and, importantly, also create and support local and regional jobs
• Our sourcing and purchasing program FARMSTEAD鈩� allows us to work collaboratively with local and regional growers, producers and food hubs who typically experience limited access to extended markets. Through our proprietary FARMSTEAD鈩� program, we partner with 52 farms, food hubs and farmers markets across six states, and our program is still growing! Creative Dining supports local agriculture and gives small, family-owned producers the ability to market their meats, cheeses, and produce. Following safe and fair rules of engagement, we leverage our direct purchasing program so that our chefs can use the freshest, locally grown ingredients. .
• A copy of can be found here.
• Participation in Community Sustained Agriculture (CSA) shares for procurement of farm-direct produce

Plant-Based Eating

• Not only can you customize your plate to be fully vegan or vegetarian from any station, Creative Dining offers a specific Plant-Forward station that features vegan and vegetarian options at every meal. 
• During Earth Month (April) and Campus Sustainability Month (October) Dining Services and the Office of Sustainability partner to produce a weeklong educational campaign about the benefits to your health and the health of the planet for opting for plant-based dishes. This includes social media posts, podcast episodes, film screenings, chef series events and informational tables/displays. 
• Creative Dining Services also recognize the health, environmental and economic benefits of , which is why they are working with the  and have signed the  to expand and measure our programming in the menuing of non-animal products.

Menus of Change

We align with the  program to do just that. It鈥檚 24 operational and menuing principles crafted by the chefs and scientists from the Culinary Institute of America and Harvard鈥檚 T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Our chefs prioritize these and more (without sacrificing flavor):

• Plant-forward menuing with fresh produce and whole grains
• Fresh and seasonal ingredients, local and global
• Whole, minimally processed foods
• Smaller portions and less refined sugars
• Quality over quantity: scratch cooking over canned or overly processed

Dietary Needs

换妻社区 Dining Services labels the 鈥淏ig 9鈥� allergens identified by the FDA at all points of service. If a food item contains wheat, milk, egg, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish or sesame, it will be identified as such. Dining Services also uses icons to identify food items that are vegan, vegetarian, or contain gluten.

Learn more about dietary needs.

Honey Bees

Thanks to a grant and partnership with Hope Dining Services, three honey bee hives were added to campus in spring 2022. The honey is harvested in the fall and bottled into 8-ounce jars and sold in the Bookstore. The funds are then added to the Campus Revolving Fund. For more details, . A portion of honey is also used in a few recipes in the dining halls.

Phelps Dining Hall Indoor Hydroponic Herb Garden

Hope Dining Services has partnered with West Michigan-based company , and in 2023 they installed an hydroponic herb garden in Phelps Dining Hall. 

The Bit-Farms program represents a shift toward distributed, hyper-local food production integrated directly into food service operations. By combining controlled environment agriculture with a service-based farming model, Bit-Farms reduces environmental impacts while delivering fresher food directly to institutional kitchens.

Measured outcomes from the program include:

• Average of about 40 pounds of produce per month per farm
• Approximately 480 pounds of produce annually per farm
• Over 1,200 pounds of fresh greens produced to date at 换妻社区
• Approximately 20 gallons of water used per week per farm
• Elimination of packaging and long distance transportation for leafy greens
• Reduced spoilage through harvest on demand production
• 15 farms operating in the West Michigan area