Food Waste reclamation program established
Neil McIntyre: Recyclers of Food Waste hauled dining hall food scraps from kitchens and plate waste to local New Jersey pig farmers

Implementation of FoodPro®food management software to provide inventory and purchasing controls leading to reduced food waste

Cafe Vivian coffee shop in the Frist Campus Center 

• Fair Trade certified coffee offered
• Reusable mug discount introduced at Cafe Vivian

• Local small world roasters coffee from Rocky Hill, NJ offered at Chancellor Green Cafe including organic and fairly traded beans
• Delivery direct Jersey Fresh produce in partnership with Guarino & Sons produce
• Reusable mugs distributed to incoming First year students
• Reusable mug discount extended to all retail dining units

• Cage-free eggs in all dining operations
• Local Bent Spoon artisinal ice cream from Princeton introduced in Witherspoon's
• Organic Everyday spring mix made standard in all dining operations
• Establish partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program
• Co-sponsor first campus Farmers' Market
• Food, Ethics, and the Environment conference hosted by the Princeton Environmental Institute features locally and responsibly sourced menus for all meals
• Princeton’s Office of Sustainability is founded by students and alumni in partnership with Facilities including Dining Services and what is now the Princeton Sustainability Committee

Princeton University Sustainability Plan introduced.  New goals under the Sustainability Plan include specific objectives for reduced water usage; increased recycling rates; 100 percent conversion to green cleaning products; decreased use of disposable paper products; and increased purchasing of green goods and services as well as sustainably produced food items.
Campus Dining uses the strategy of identifying more local suppliers of local foods as noted below and replaces conventional cleaning products with green cleaning products.

• small world roasters coffee from Rocky Hill, NJ offered at all campus cafes
• Locally produced non-GMO, organic tofu is standard in all dining operations
• Organic Tofu Scramble offered at breakfast an an alternative to eggs
• Blueberry blossom honey from Fruitwood Orchards in Monroeville, NJ is standard in all dining operations
• Green Seal Certified cleaning products used in all kitchens

• Energy and water saving dish machines installed in dining halls
• Carbon footprint of Frist Pizza calculated by student as part of academic project

• Spa water infused with herbs, fruit, and vegetables available for catered events as alternative to bottled water
• Chefs participate in first Garden State on Your Plate events at Princeton schools
• Food Day celebrated at all dining locations with Autumn Squash Soup featuring all New Jersey Produce
• Reusable container take-out program launches at Café Vivian

• Post-consumer food waste audit conducted for one week at the Rockefeller College Dining Hall
• Introduced new food waste hauler from Hopewell, NJ after closure of many pig farms.  Liquid and solid compost products are used by hauler on their farm and in hydroponics
• Hatfield smoked pork products are certified humane
• Vegan options introduced in the Food Gallery at the Frist Campus Center
• Kitchen audits and retrofits conducted as part of Green Restaurant Association certification at Forbes and Rockefeller Colleges
• Natives of Princeton and Campus Dining Celebrate Heritage Through Cuisine.  The Campus Dining team at Whitman College presented a menu comprised almost entirely of Native American recipes. Emery Real Bird ’17 worked with Chef de Cuisine Jared Gierisch to create authentic dishes and identify and procure ingredients from native suppliers. The dinner honored Native American Heritage Month and is part of a series to promote diversity and cultural heritage through dining. 
• Princeton Feast: Literature, Food and the American Racial Diet. A tasting event designed to explore the relationship between food, literature, and American racial history/culture. Students from AAS 223/ENG 326/GSS 223 develop recipes and cook dishes based on their research into the relationship that food culture (broadly conceived as including kinds of food, ideas of taste, rituals surrounding food, aspects of American foodways, environmentalism, history of food, and more) bears to American racial dynamics then and now. The goal is to combine practice with research, to encounter food as material and as a critical site for racial reflection.

• Earned Green Restaurant Association Certification for Forbes and Rockefeller/Mathey Colleges
• Introduction of the Princeton Crafted Burger —an exclusive blend of grass-fed beef and local mushrooms that supports our commitment to wellness and sustainability without sacrificing taste. Portabellas provide a juicy texture and savoriness. Mushrooms tread lightly on our environment taking only 1.8 gallons of water to yield one pound. Grass-fed beef is a better choice for both you and the planet. Grass-fed beef is lower in saturated fat, higher in antioxidants and may naturally restore topsoil in pastures. City Beef & Provisions, founded in 1955 in the heart of the Meat District in nearby Trenton, NJ, custom blends our proprietary recipe.
• Foraging Tours Connect Students to Local Food.  Campus Dining has taken groups of students to tour Small World Coffee(Link is external) and Severino Pasta (Link is external) — two local companies that supply the University’s kitchens.   At Small World Coffee, students toured the roasting facility, met the roasters and learned how beans are sourced responsibly. While at Severino Pasta, students experienced first-hand the authentic Italian techniques for making a variety of artisanal pastas.Tours like these will continue during the spring semester as a way to engage and educate students on food and agriculture.
   

• Princeton University’s new Sustainability Action Plan sets bold targets to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and outlines innovative strategies to engage all faculty, staff and students in creating a sustainable campus and future. Princeton will aim to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2046, which is the University’s 300th anniversary.
• Tiger Sustainability Night at basketball double-header.  In partnership with the Office of Sustainability, Athletics, and student EcoReps, Tiger Sustainability Night promotes sustainable practices by focusing on waste reduction initiatives at sporting events. The EcoReps helped teach fans about what waste items could be recycled or composted and which ones could only go to landfills.  Compostable materials—which includes food, plates, napkins, and even pizza boxes—were collected and transported to the newly installed composter (Link is external), where they were turned into compost that will enrich Princeton’s landscaping across campus. In addition to the recycling and composting initiatives, Tiger Sustainability Night also unveiled the re-launch of Campus Dining’s #LoveAMug program, the first 125 fans receiving reusables mugs. Beyond the giveaways and recycling stations, Tiger Sustainability Night fostered an appreciation for and awareness of sustainability during the games, with special details. Promo videos before the games featured players from the teams promoting reusable mugs. Cheerleaders had green bows and special green chants during the game. The announcer recited sustainability facts during pauses in play and encouraged fans to take advantage of the EcoReps’ waste stations. At halftime, elementary students competed to sort concession items into trash and recycling.

Princeton University receives gold rating for sustainability from the Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The rating is re-certified every 3 years and is based on campus-wide sustainability progress in areas that include academics, engagement, operations, planning, administration, innovation, and leadership. Campus Dining documented 36% of annual food and beverage expenditures on plant-based foods.

• Composting is introduced at the Frist Food Gallery, through a strong partnership between staff in Facilities and University Services, as well as the introduction of new compostable containers and utensils. Updates on the SCRAP lab can be found on the project’s Blog
• Waste audits conducted at the Frist Food Gallery as part of Campus as Lab project funded by a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection grant.
• Veg Out! Fuel for the Future Powered by Plants  A day of celebrating plant-based cooking.  Whether you’re a meat lover or a
  plant fanatic, come VEG OUT with us and enjoy our delicious all plant-based food experiment!Forbes College Dining supported a Veg Out! takeover at every meal.  Breakfast featured Just Eggs Scramble, Carrot Bacon and a Muesli Station.  Lunch showcased buffalo cauliflower, Jack Fruit quesadillas and a smoothie bar.  At dinner, the diners were treated to a Surf & Turf with a umami portabella steak paired with a Hungry Planet “crab” cake and accompanied by grilled asparagus and baked potatoes.  Other dining halls supported the day with station takeovers at both lunch and dinner that featured Just Eggs and Hungry Planet “crab cakes” as well as specialty desserts.