Middlebury College Dining Service takes its obligations very seriously and realizes that we have a responsibility to offer a wide variety of foods and menus-nutritionally balanced, based on students' comments and concerns and on sound financial management.
Our management team is composed of chefs, assistant managers, unit managers, food buyers and dining service directors. These professionals oversee staffing, scheduling, menu planning and meal production. In conjunction with student delegates, this group makes up our Dining Services Food Committee, dedicated to making dining at Middlebury College healthy, enjoyable, varied and convenient. In recent years their efforts have been seen in:
A new dining schedule developed to better fit class schedules and student requests, the bag lunch program and sick trays to the Health Center. Continuous service from breakfast through lunch in Atwater, Ross and Proctor. Increased emphasis on waste reduction, food waste and recycling. Middlebury College Dining Service Services is committed to environmental conservation. Here's what we've done to protect this precious commodity.
In conjunction with the campus Environmental Quality group, Middlebury College Dining Service initiated a program to reduce paper waste and costs. Under the C.U.P.P.S. Project (Can't Use Paper, Plastic or Styrofoam), students are issued reusable 22 oz. hot/cold mugs. The hope is to encourage use of these cups rather than paper cups in the dining halls and snack bars. In addition to helping save the environment, these CUPPS will also save you money, since all of our snack bars and many downtown businesses discount beverages taken in a C.U.P.P.S. mug. In the first year that the mugs were issued, Middlebury College Dining Service experienced a significant drop in paper costs. Please help us continue this trend by using your C.U.P.P.S. mug whenever possible.
Middlebury College Dining Service separates our organic waste for composting. In its first year, this project diverted approximately half a million pounds of waste from landfills and incinerators, saving the College between $20,000 and $25,000. Academic year 1997-98 is the first full year of our on-site composting program. By developing our own system, Middlebury College is continuing its commitment to environmental responsibility by reducing the fuel and vehicles previously needed to transport our waste to other sites.
Middlebury College Dining Service has also developed facilities and purchased equipment to better manage the recycling of glass, plastic and tin from our kitchens, serveries and cash operations. Our focus on vegetarian meals has resulted in additional training of our production personnel, new recipes and menus, and a more varied selection of vegetarian items at meals.
The implementation of an ID system to aid us in tracking eating trends based on location and class schedules, to reduce waste and to more efficiently schedule employees.