CDT Fall 2022 - 26

(Left) Sustainable seafood and local
produce fire grilled at Morrison Dining.
Photo courtesy of Melissa Hom.
(Below) Cornell Dining's reusable container program helps
reduce waste and promotes access to healthy food on the go.
Photo courtesy of Darl Zehr Photography.
roadmap and initiatives for the years to come.
She will be enlisting the help of some of our
passionate culinarians and managers through a
sustainability committee to develop specific and
time-bound tasks to help move us toward our goal
and the university's goal of carbon neutrality by
2035. Anna is a member of the Sustainable Cornell
Council and works closely with the team from the
Campus Sustainability Office2
.
We know sustainability is a very broad topic and
can seem overwhelming. Our program, specifically,
has gone through many iterations of wanting to
do more and not knowing where or how to start.
When Dustin Cutler, senior executive director of
Cornell Dining & Cornell Retail Services, was asked
to participate in the development of the NACUFS
Collegiate Foodservice Sustainability Guide, we
were thrilled that Cornell had the ability to give
input and shape how the tool would work. We had
high hopes that the tool would give us guidance
and a framework for the next steps to take in our
own sustainability journey.
I can't stress enough how helpful this tool has
been in giving us direction! The tool covers 10
key sustainability issues covering: food waste,
carbon footprint, social equity, local, seasonal
menus & purchasing strategy, waste reduction,
animal welfare, biodiversity and habitat protection,
sustainable seafood, sustainability collaboration,
and ingredient transparency. There are four
segments, including instructions, assessment,
results, and best practices.
The assessment was straightforward and easy to
complete: there's one column for you to fill in with yes/
no answers (what could be easier, right?). Then you
immediately click on the results tab to see where you're
excelling and where you can choose your next area of
focus. What I appreciate most is the " best practices "
tab. This is a comprehensive breakdown of the 10 key
sustainability issues along with specific action-oriented
tasks that you can pull from to put into action. The best
part of this tool is that each institution is in complete
control of the adoption, engagement, and timeline.
You can ease into projects or you can go all in-it's
completely autonomous.
The best part is that it's literally like having a consulting
summary at your fingertips. The fee for the toolkit,
includes the Guide, assessment tool, lesson plans, and
the train the trainer program, and is a very small price
to pay for a comprehensive roadmap to help you either
get started or continue your journey towards a more
sustainable program. Sign up, sign in, and be on your
way to growing your sustainable dining footprint.
1
https://scl.cornell.edu/residential-life/dining/about-dining/sustainability
2
https://fcs.cornell.edu/departments/energy-sustainability/campus-sustainability-office
26 CAMPUS DINING TODAY | CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF THE NACUFS COLLEGIATE FOODSERvICE SUSTAINABILITY GUIDE

https://scl.cornell.edu/residential-life/dining/about-dining/sustainability https://fcs.cornell.edu/departments/energy-sustainability/campus-sustainability-office

CDT Fall 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CDT Fall 2022