Celebrating in Corcoran Commons: Director of BC Dining Services Beth Emery (far right) with interns Sally Philbin, '18, Julia MacDonald '20, Abby McHugh '20, Jen Wisnewski '18, Julia Schwartz BC Law '19.
Boston College Dining Services has received more professional acknowledgement of its leadership in sustainability and conservation, winning a 2018 Gold Award for Sustainability in the category of Outreach and Education from the National Association of College and University Food Services.
Now in its 60th year, NACUFS supports the college and university food service market by providing its members throughout the US and Canada with the programs and resources they need to excel, from benchmarking and best practices to educational programming and professional networking.
BC Dining will formally receive the award at the NACUFS national conference in July. Dining Services administrators and staff celebrated the honor this month with edible treats, of course, at Corcoran Commons.
The award recognized BC Dining's “FRESH to Table” initiative, which aims to increase the production and consumption of local, sustainable food options in New England, with a focus on community awareness and education about the importance of regional, sustainable, healthy food.
The program includes a weekly demonstration kitchen in front of the Corcoran Commons fireplace, featuring a different type of FRESH—which stands for “fairly-traded, regional, equitable, sustainable, healthy”—food each week, such as ratatouille, pickled cucumbers and brussels sprout hash. Chefs from BC Dining and area vendors provide free samples for students along with a recipe card so they can make the meal in their own kitchens. Bags with ingredients for a four-person dinner are offered for sale. The initiative is funded by a $399,705 grant awarded to BC Dining Services from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation.
BC Dining also has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for its sustainable food management practices, and earlier this year hosted a major forum on recycling that spotlighted waste diversion efforts at Massachusetts colleges and universities.
–University Communications