Carolina Dining Services earns National Grand Prize for excellence in sustainable campus dining
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the Grand Prize winner when it comes to sustainability in campus dining programs according to the National Association of College & University Food Services’ (NACUFS). The University’s Carolina Dining Services (CDS) was named Grand Prize winner in the 2015 Sustainability Awards competition, bringing home top honors in the contest that each year recognizes the best of the best.
NACUFS’s Sustainability Awards recognize and honor colleges and universities that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the promotion and implementation of environmental sustainability—specifically as it relates to campus dining operations—with a gold, silver and bronze award in five operational categories: Procurement Practices, Energy and Water Conservation, Waste Management, Materials and Resources and Outreach and Education. The highest honor of the Grand Prize is then chosen from the Gold Award winners in these five categories.
NACUFS is a professional association comprised of member institutions of higher education from across the U.S. and Canada and industry partners in the food, equipment and consulting industries.
CDS was already named the national Gold Medal winner in the competition’s Outreach and Education category in recognition of its hugely successful Feeding the 5,000 campaign. Feeding the 5,000 is a worldwide initiative with the goal of empowering and inspiring the global community to enact positive solutions to the global issue of food waste. As part of the campaign, CDS hosted a free lunch this past October and invited the entire UNC-Chapel Hill community to at¬tend and partake in a meal that consisted entirely of food that would have otherwise been wasted. This was the first time such an event had been held at a college or uni¬versity. By the end of the day, the goal of feeding five thousand was greatly surpassed, as 9,300 people were fed a wholesome and satisfying meal.
“It was inspiring to work with Tristan Stewart, founder of Feeding the 5,000, to bring this event to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with its message that everyone can take responsibility to help solve global food waste,” said Scott Myers, Carolina’s Director of Food and Vending. “It is a great honor for the campus community and the dining services team to be recognized by NACUFS for hosting and promoting the event.”
Find out more about Carolina Dining Services by visiting http://dining.unc.edu/ or follow CDS on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CDSatUNC.