Syracuse University Food Services (SUFS) has proven it is easy to be sustainable while providing top rated service to its customers.  Many efforts are underway in our award winning dining operations. Purchasing products locally, whenever possible, either directly from the producer or through local distributors cuts down on the miles a product has to travel to our campus.  Some of the vendors providing locally grown or produced food items include Beak & Skiff, Ramona’s Dressings, Paul deLima, Hofmann Sausage Co.,  Byrne Dairy, and Crowley Yogurt to name a few. Recently we partnered with Allens Produce, a local produce company that grows, cultivates, freezes, and packages vegetables that are locally grown.

Recycling has long been part of Food Services’ daily routine. In accordance with Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency, the following items are recycled: glass, cans, plastic, office paper, paper board and corrugated cardboard. Batteries, ink and toner cartridges are also collected and sent out for recycling. Used fryer oil is collected and recycled; some is used to make bio-diesel fuel by SUNY-ESF.

In addition to purchasing local foods, organic products are available for purchase in the Gallery Snack Bar and the Schine Dining Center.  Organic fruit, pretzels, burritos, cereal, milk, yogurt, beef burgers, vegetarian burgers, cookies, crackers and cracker snack products, and bottled tea are available for purchase.  Organic foods are also featured at the new convenience store, the South Campus Express, located in Goldstein Student Center .

At the beginning of the fall semester every student on a meal plan is issued a re-usable bottle.  This sustainable bottle gives the students the option to take a beverage out with them at the end of their dining center meal.   Since instituting the free reusable bottles, the dining centers have been able to eliminate prepackaged beverages.  This keeps excess bottles and cans out of our landfills and recycling plant. 

In addition to the reusable bottles, the dining centers offer eco-friendly take out containers for students to take their meal out of the dining center.  These containers are a great option; they create less waste and eliminate the polystyrene containers used by many food service operations.  What began as a test in Brockway Dining Center has expanded to all the dining centers.  Campus cafés, student centers and food courts use PLA plastic and/or sugar cane based take out containers.  Polystyrene cups have been eliminated from the Dunkin’ Donuts and Freshens franchises on campus as well.  

Low flow sprayer heads, recirculating water supplies, compact fluorescent bulbs, motion detectors and energy efficient natural gas kitchen equipment are other measures Food Services has taken to reduce their energy use and contribute to the University’s green efforts.

In an effort to cut back on the number of cups wasted everyday, SUFS cafés have rolled out a new program called the Mug Club. Faculty, staff, and students are invited to be a part of this program. Instead of using a disposable cup for your beverage, the Mug Club encourages sustainability by giving a 20% discount to anyone using the Mug Club mug in a café. There are other Mug Club benefits including: 50¢ off the purchase of a muffin on Monday; 50¢ off the purchase of a bagel on Wednesday; one half price fill-up on Friday; plus other deals throughout the year. Mugs can be purchased at the cafés on campus.