Local Food Hubs Webinar

Summer has officially arrived on Grounds, now that graduation weekend is behind us -- congratulations to the class of 2011! Things are quieting down a bit around the Dining Admin office, so I am taking the opportunity to catch up on a webinar put on by the National Good Food Network that I missed last week.

This latest NGFN webinar is entitled "Food Hubs: Viable Regional Distribution Systems."

The webinar is full of interesting facts about food hubs' emergence as viable enterprises in the sustainable agriculture and food system, and features our community's very own Local Food Hub. UVa Dining is truly grateful to have access to this resource, and we are only reminded even more of our good fortune when it is advertised on a webinar available to a national audience! (Also note that right before minute 28, Kate Collier, Local Food Hub Director, names UVa Dining as being first on the list of their "top buyers" -- not a bad association for us to have.)

If you'd like to check out the webinar but don't have time to sit through the entire in-depth recording, NGFN has also made the presentation slides available for viewing via pdf.

Reusable Mug Punch Cards

As the semester draws to a close, there's still one sustainability program in which number of you can still participate: the reusable mug punch card program.

All you have to do is take a paper-writing or exam study break as usual, but this time when you're getting your caffeine fix at Alderman/Clark/Wilsdorf/etc, make sure you have your reusable mug and punch card in hand. If you don't yet have a card, just ask the cashier and he or she will happily supply you with one. From that point forward, use your reusable mug and get your card punched eight times, and you'll be eligible for two free drop coffees or tea drinks (in your reusable mug, of course!).

If you're going to be taking classes or otherwise working on Grounds this summer, hold on to that card (or get a new one after you fill your current card during finals) and use it at any of the following locations over the summer months:
Alderman Cafe
Java City at the Bookstore
West Range Cafe
Crossroads

For a complete listing of Dining's summer operating hours, see the pdf here.

Good luck with the remaining finals -- the end is in sight and the coffee will get you through!

Reusable To-Go Container Refunds

Thanks to all of you that participated in this year's Reusable To-Go program! If you'll be participating in the program again next year and feel comfortable holding on to your key cards over the summer, you're welcome to do so. If you don’t plan to participate in the program again next year (or don't want to risk losing the tags before August rolls back around), the time has come for your deposits to be refunded, as per the following instructions:

1. Dirty reusable containers must be rinsed out and returned to any of the participating Dining locations (Runk, Newcomb, Pav, O-Hill, Crossroads, The Castle, West Range Cafe, Fine Arts Cafe, and Wilsdorf) in exchange for your two key cards.

2. Key cards are to be brought back to the Dining Admin Office (ground floor of O-Hill, across the hall from the ID Office) between 9am and 4pm throughout the rest of the week and given to me or Accounting Manager Ben Koontz. Your $5 deposit will be refunded in cash. No partial refunds will be given.

3. Deposits will be refunded starting tomorrow, Wednesday, May 4th and continuing through the end of exams, Friday, May 13th. I will also be tabling during lunch in O-Hill Dining Hall for a couple of lunch periods (11am - 2pm) during exams: Monday, May 9 (today), and Wednesday, May 11; I will have a cash box for refunds and will be accepting key tags or go-to containers each of those days. Please email me if for any reason this time frame does not work for you and you need to make alternate arrangements.

Feel free to leave a comment or email me with any questions about this refund system, or any feedback -- both good or bad! -- you may have about your experience using reusable to-go containers this year. Thanks for your willingness to participate in this program and your help in shrinking UVa’s environmental footprint!

Local Food Hub Educational Farm Tour recap

Dining hosted another fun tour out to the Local Food Hub Educational Farm at Maple Hill this past Friday. It was a perfect way to celebrate the (almost) end of classes!

Farm apprentice Holly showed us around the chicken coop, the greenhouse, the innoculated log section, the workshop barn, and the six acres of field. The lettuce and asparagus straight from the ground were both delicious, and the irises and beets we were all invited to take home with us were much appreciated as well.

After the tour we helped to paint signs for the Food Hub's upcoming Plant Sale (taking place this Saturday, May 7th, at the Educational Farm), did a bit of mulching amongst the tomato plants, and topped the tomato stakes with cut tennis balls to reduce the chances of the delicate row cover catching and ripping on the stakes -- something that happened just recently on the farm. It seems to be situated in just the right location to bear the brunt of some pretty serious wind!

We made it back to Grounds just in time for folks to stop by the Fine Arts Cafe for a special reception and exhibit celebrating the culminating work of Arley Arrington and Sarah Tisdale for their Indian Summer project.

Good luck to all who are about to start exams!

O'Hill Selected as Participant in the EPA National Building Competition

The O'Hill building has been selected as a participant in the EPA National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings!



It’s joining almost 250 other driven, dedicated commercial building teams in a national race to reduce energy use throughout the summer. Buildings will be judged based on the percent energy reduction (adjusted for weather and building size) demonstrated between the baseline period of 09/01/09 – 08/31/10 and the comparison period of 09/01/10 – 08/31/11. Among the finalists, the building that demonstrates the largest adjusted percent reduction in energy use intensity (EUI) across this 24-month period will be recognized by EPA as the winner. Help get O’Hill to the finals by being a responsible building occupant and keeping your energy consumption low when possible!

The competition is officially underway today, and the official Battle of the Buildings website is a great place to learn more about the contest and the individual building competitors.

This national contest is timed nicely to align with a recently approved President's Sustainability Committee plan to make a formal commitment to reduce UVa's energy footprint. Both the Student Council and the Faculty Senate have now endorsed the plan, and the next step is to gain approval for it from the Board of Visitors. The specifics of the plan call for a 25% reduction in 2009 greenhouse gas levels by 2025. For now, special events and occasions like the EPA competition will help pave the way for these potential higher standards.

Earth Week 2011 Success

Here's a quick run-down of the major Earth Week events of which Dining was a part -- the highlight is the slew of photos (I took a good number of them, and Sue Collins and Amber Wilson contributed some of the Farm to Fork shots, and Caroline McCraw took all of the Green Reception pictures)!

•Monday: Sustainability Art Exhibit
The kick-off event for Earth Week was an art exhibit opening and reception at the recently renovated Student Activities Center in Newcomb Hall. UVa Dining sponsored refreshments and staffed a Sustainable Dining display, complete with a photo collage and the interactive “What’s Most Important To Me?” board. Exhibit attendees also had the opportunity to enter into the Farm to Fork Raffle for the chance to win a seat at Friday’s Farm to Fork Luncheon.

•Wednesday: Student Council Green Reception
The Student Council Environmental Sustainability Committee hosted its 3rd annual Green Reception during Earth Week, which provides an opportunity for students to mingle informally with sustainability staff. Dining co-sponsored the refreshments, serving local and artisan cheeses and iced tea. CSA farmer Jamie Barrett of Bellair (and of Dining's Logistics of Local panel!) was invited to speak to those in attendance and briefly shared his experience as a producer in the regional foodshed.

•Thursday: UVa Eco-Fair
UVa Dining helped to coordinate a UVa-wide Eco-Fair on the Thursday of Earth Week, which involved several dozen UVa departments and a number of community vendors like Habitat for Humanity and the Charlottesville Area Transit Service. Dining’s booth was staffed with student Dining Educators that handed out sustainable dining brochures, Monterey Bay seafood pocket guides, reusable mug punch cards, and free samples of organic granola and fair trade chocolate (sold in one of Dining’s retail locations). Other fair highlights included a smoothie bike – people pedaled on a stationary bike that was rigged to spin a blender on the back – and a tap water taste test.

•Friday: Farm to Fork Luncheon
UVa Dining capped off the week with a Farm to Fork Luncheon, featuring a menu of entirely local foods, and the chance to learn more about Charlottesville’s local food scene with remarks by representatives from the Local Food Hub and a local grass-fed beef operation. The luncheon was attended by students, faculty and staff, who, in addition to the meal itself, received free UVa Sustainability t-shirts and first shot at signing up for the upcoming tour at the Local Food Hub educational farm.

Some feedback:
“Did I mention the food at the luncheon was incredible?! You did such a great job with that event.“ UVa Sustainability Staff member

"I felt honored to be included. The food was delicious!!” UVa Faculty member

CBS19 even showed up and covered the luncheon:

More shots of the food and guests:

Bravo to all that made this 2011 Earth Week such a success! And thanks to everyone for participating.

Local Food Hub Farm Tour this Friday

UVa Dining is organizing another tour out to the Local Food Hub's Educational Farm at Maple Hill this coming Friday afternoon, departing Grounds in the Catering van at 12:30 and returning by 3:30. We'll tour the six-acre organic operation, check out the greenhouse and various pieces of equipment (wait til you see the potato sorter!), and then work on a small field project alongside the farm apprentices. It'll be a fun afternoon, and the weather looks like it's going to cooperate as well, with a forecast of partly cloudy and a high of 69 degrees.

If you are interested in partaking in this tour, email me directly ASAP at kendall.singleton@virginia.edu. I'll send final details to the participants.