Sustainable Dining

Local, Natural, Organic

We partner with local suppliers and purchase local, natural and organic products whenever possible. We also regularly review our purchasing system and meet with our contracted vendors to source new products that can be purchased from local, socially aligned partners.

Currently, the following major product categories are sourced locally:
 

• Wilcox Family Farms and National Food Corporation, both located in Washington State, provide us with all our eggs, which are natural and certified cage-free. Wilcox Family Farms has been awarded Salmon Safe certification, an emerging Northwest eco-label that recognizes farming practices that protect the health of our rivers and streams.
  
  

• Headquartered in Seattle, Darigold, a subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association and a Pacific Northwest farmer-owned co-op, provides us with milk. Darigold milks are all natural, from cows not treated with rBST.
  
  

• Breads and rolls for sandwiches are provided by Seattle bakeries.
  
  

• Bagels and bakery items (such as muffins, scones, cookies and donuts) are produced by Seattle bakeries and are free of trans fat.
  
  

• Produce is supplied by Charlie's Produce, a local, employee-owned company.
  
  

• Organic, shade-grown, Fair Trade Coffee is offered in our express markets, espresso bars and cafés.
  
  

• Guayaki Yerba Mate is served at all of our cafés and is an organic, Fair Trade Certified product.
  
  

• The beef for our hamburgers is 100 percent USDA Certified Natural Black Angus, and is antibiotic and hormone free.
  
  

• French fries are made from Pacific Northwest potatoes and are free of trans fat.
  
  

• Grab-and-go packaged convenience store foods are produced locally, including sushi (Uwajimaya), sandwiches, salads, yogurt parfaits and fresh cut fruit cups (Jackrabbit). Grab-and-go packaging is compostable.
  
  

• Our express markets offer a tremendous variety of local favorites, such as Jones Soda, Cougar Mountain Cookies, Bon D'Elie Hummus and many more products too numerous to list.
  
  

• Our retail food courts feature Pagliacci Pizza, a local retail restaurant chain that exclusively uses local products in season to create their pizzas and that uses compostable packaging exclusively.
  

Trans Fats

In 2005, we eliminated frying oils containing trans fats. We use canola oil and olive oil in the preparation of our recipes.

Composting and Conserving

Did you know many of the cups, straws and food containers you are now using in our dining facilities are biodegradable? When you put these items in compost receptacles, they are combined with kitchen waste and leftover food. This mixture is taken to Cedar Grove (the largest compost facility in the Northwest) where it is converted to nutrient-rich compost.

Our credo is to Strive for Zero Waste through composting. Working with students, HFS staff takes pride in being involved in a program that is making a real effort to reduce the amount of waste going to our regional landfills.

Ever wonder what happens to that item you put in the compost bin? Take a tour of the Cedar Grove Composting site and find out.

Recycling and Conservation

Packaging

Food Services is working actively with our purchasers and suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging in our products and containers, and to convert to compostable packaging when possible, to further reduce the amount of waste going to our landfills.

Recycling Containers

UW Recycle has a well-structured and successful campus-wide program for the identification and ease of collection of recyclables. With color-coded containers to store recycling (blue), composting (brown) and regular trash (gray), our customers can easily identify items and correctly recycle them.

Biodiesel

Food Services has an agreement to have all of our used cooking oil picked up by a local producer of biodiesel fuel.

Bring Your Own Mug

Anyone who brings their own mug to a café gets drip coffee for $1.25. Espresso drinks are 10 cents off.

Herb Garden

Food Services has a patio herb and vegetable garden located on the roof of McMahon Hall. Our garden is lovingly maintained by University of Washington groundskeepers. Our chefs use the garden to grow herbs and produce that we use to supplement what we purchase from Charlie’s Produce, a local, employee-owned company that supplies us with fruits and vegetables.

Environmentally Sustainable Cleaning

Ecolab, provider of all food service cleaning products and detergents, supplies HFS with their line of environmentally-friendly products, called Ecologic. We want to ensure that what we use and send down our drains does not impact our streams, lakes and rivers.