Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

treating the world as if we planned to stay

Chartwells believes serving healthy and nutritious food provides a foundation for lifelong learning. We are proud to feed future leaders and understand the immense responsibility we have to nourish our guests’ minds and bodies. We believe that wellness goes beyond our dining halls. To support a well-balanced healthy lifestyle, we create programs that help our guests live life to its fullest. From sourcing our ingredients to preparing our menus, we keep health and wellness at the forefront of everything we do. Read more about how we’re practicing sustainability on our campuses today. 

sustainability scorecard

Items that meet the specific criteria of Compass Group’s sustainability initiatives, as a percent of total purchases for that category.

sustainable seafood

sustainable seafood sustainable seafood

Seafood from sustainable sources

98%

rBGH free milk

rBGH free milk rBGH free milk

Fluid milk free of artificial growth hormones

97%

rBGH free yogurt

rBGH free yogurt rBGH free yogurt

Free of artificial growth hormones

99%

reduced antibiotic chicken

reduced antibiotic chicken reduced antibiotic chicken

Produced without the routine use of human antibiotics

82%

local produce

local produce local produce

Local produce in support of the American Family Farmers

Goal = 30%

reduced antibiotic turkey

reduced antibiotic turkey reduced antibiotic turkey

Turkey produced without the routine use of human antibiotics

88%

eco/fair trade coffee

eco/fair trade coffee eco/fair trade coffee

Eco/Fair Trade Certified Coffee

79%

Responsible Sourcing

Chartwells is committed to sourcing practices that are humane and help to improve the environment. Learn more about our initiatives below:

providing fresh yogurt and milk that is free of artificial growth hormones

As part of our commitment to health and wellness, we only purchase yogurt from cows not treated with rBGH.

 

offering certified humane cage-free eggs

We offer only Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) certified cage-free shell eggs nationwide. In December 2007, Compass implemented a cage-free shell egg policy. All of our locations only offer shell eggs that are certified by the HFAC program in partnership with the Humane Society of America. By 2021, all eggs, including liquid will be sourced from certified humane cage-free hens.

fair trade products

In 2018, we committed to source Fair Trade products at all Chartwells’ locations around the country. As part of this commitment, we offer Fair Trade Certified food and/or beverage items, such as coffee and tea, barkTHINS, energy bars, sugar and bananas in each dining operation. We have been providing Fair Trade coffee at many of our locations since 2016, and have purchased over 1 million pounds of Fair Trade coffee since then.

purchasing poultry produced without the routine use of human antibiotics

The nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal production is a growing public health concern because it decreases the effectiveness of antibiotics to treat diseases in humans. At Chartwells, we only serve chicken and turkey that have been raised with restricted use of these drugs, especially as a growth additive in feed. Our suppliers provide products that adhere to criteria developed in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund.

animal welfare

In 2016, Compass Group USA became the first foodservice company to commit to serving 100% healthier, slower growing chicken by 2024 through the landmark Global Animal Partnerships (GAP) agreement.

fair food

We act to support campaigns that reward the efforts of farmers and laborers through our partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Learn more and become a sustainer at ciw-online.org.

buying local

Supporting the preservation of the American family farm, reducing the carbon footprint of our supply chain, and giving back to local communities are central to Compass’s core values. In support of our company-wide commitment to sustainability and wellness, Compass has been making strides to establish relationships with local farmers and produce distributors to encourage local buying and promote seasonally available produce. In addition, at least 20% of our products are sourced locally, within 250 miles of each one of our campuses.

reducing waste to landfill

We manage our waste streams in each of our dining facilities and offices to reduce waste to landfill as much as possible. Our teams recycle according to all locally available programs. Our food waste reduction strategies incorporate source reduction, food recovery and composting. Our Waste Not toolkit provides our teams with the necessary resources to track all waste in our facilities so we can implement strategies to reduce waste.

food insecurity

Nearly 40% of all college students are struggling with food security. Food insecurity impacts students in all college and university settings, even those who have a meal plan can be food insecure. To counter this issue, Chartwells provides program support to address food insecurity in a variety of ways, including student food pantries, meal donations and partnerships with the Food Recovery Network or Feeding America.

stop food waste day

We are driving change from the inside out with a landmark commitment to reduce food waste 50% by 2030. We’re reducing waste at the source, raising awareness, and promoting solutions that positively impact the areas where we operate. Read more and take the pledge at stopfoodwasteday.com

sustainable seafood

Chartwells is committed to protecting the threatened global fish supply. In collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, we established a landmark purchasing policy in 2006 that removes unsustainable wild and farmed seafood from our menus.

single-use plastics

Chartwells is committed to reducing the number of single-use plastics in our dining facilities. Straws and cup lids are only offered upon request and all single-use to-go containers are recycled PET or made of fully recyclable materials.

A Commitment to Stop Food Waste

Stop Food Waste Day is part of Compass Group’s commitment to reduce 50 percent of current food waste by 2030. While the company is well on its way to meeting that goal, during this year’s activities we encouraged students to take a pledge to stop wasting food. We also empowered our associates, clients and students to be “food-waste warriors” by spreading the word and educating others about this important mission.

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