Green Dining

Weekly Farm Stand

 In an effort to bring more local food option to campus, The Office of Sustainability, Student Affairs and the Health and Wellness Center sponsor the Bentley Farm Stand every Tuesday from September - November.  

Each week Nagog Hill Farm, a family-run farm in Littleton, MA brings local produce to sell at Bentley.  The Farm Stand takes place in the Student Center and is frequented by Bentley students, faculty and staff.  

During the Fall 2012 Farm Stand, Student Affairs held a recipe contest, winning recipes were selected from submissions every week and winning contestants received a $10 voucher toward products at the Farm Stand. 

Winning recipes:

Carrot Curry Hummus (Submitted by Lisa W., Bentley Student)

Vegetable Lasagna (Submitted by Alex R., Bentley Student)

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette (Submitted by Wesley S., Bentley Student)

Zucchini Parmesan (Submitted by Andrew R., Bentley Student)

Radicchio Pear and Arugala Salad (Submitted by Whitney S., Bentley Student)

Mom’s Light and Easy and Vegetarian Potato and Leek Soup (Submitted by Rosalie B., Bentley Student)

Roasted Delicata Squash ((Submitted by Suzanne S., Bentley Staff)

Andrew’s Chili (Submitted by Andrew N., Bentley Student)

Sodexo Moves to Cage-Free Eggs

By July 2014, all 39 million shelled eggs that Sodexo purchases each year will be sourced from cage-free hens. Sodexo is making great strides with their Better Tomorrow Plan as this cage-free sourcing comes just weeks after Sodexo's commitment to the removal of gestation stalls from its pork supply chain. The Human Society supports this notion, saying that the switch to cage-free eggs will improve the welfare of almost 150,000 hens annually. Sodexo works for 6,000 clients and serves 10,000,000 customers daily.

Read the full press release here

The Better Tomorrow Plan

Sodexo is Bentley University's food service vendor.  The Better Tomorrow Plan is Sodexo's plan for a better future. It's a place where nutrition, health and wellness, local communities and the environment matter. Learn more about the plan by visiting Bentley's Dining Page or Sodexo's Better Tomorrow Plan.

Commitment to Local Food

Bentley's Dining Services team works with Sodexo's prime vendors to source items locally wherever possible.  Together with Bentley's Office of Sustainability, local foods are always labeled to educate diners.  Presently about 15% of food served in dining areas is sourced from local vendors.  It is Sodexo's goal to increase this number over the next several years. Many of our students on campus have full meal plans and fill most our their meals at Seasons Dining Hall. We strive for them to have access to local foods.

Tray-Less Dining

Bentley University removed trays from all dining facilities in August 2008. This change cuts back on the excess food taken by students because they can only carry back what they can put on plates. Research conducted by Sodexo demonstrated that removing trays reduced food waste by one ounce per person, or approximately 52,000 pounds of food waste per academic year.  Sodexo estimated that this saves ¼-gallon of water per tray by eliminating the need to wash the trays.  Furthermore, energy savings are realized from reduced dish washing cycles and less detergent is introduced into wastewater.

Green Catering

Sodexo provides catering clients with the option of purchasing alternate disposable products, such as biodegradable and compostable plates and silverware or those made from recycled materials, for catered events.  Sodexo also offers water stations with large Poland Spring water coolers at events rather than individual water bottles. By Sodexo opting to cater our on-campus events with compostable, or at the very least disposable products made from recycled materials, they are making it incredibly easy for anyone hosting an event on campus to become more sustainable. Other sustainable options are also available (and recommended!) such as opting for a water cooler over individual one-time use water bottles. It is very important to Bentley Sustainability to have and promote these ideas because large campus events serve many people and have the ability to cut back on a lot of waste.

Cooking Oil to Biofuel

As of February 2012, Bentley's kitchens' grease containers are picked up and recycled by Cape Cod Biofuels. Learn more about Cape Cod Biofuels and how they are making strides by converting our kitchen grease into oil to heat local homes!

Here is an excerpt from their "About Me" page:

"Finally, a local waste vegetable oil recycler! Why bother with big off-Cape waste oil recyclers or fly-by-night pickups? Now you can have the advantage of knowing that ALL of your waste oil will be transported, recycled and reused right here on Cape Cod.

We are the only ASTM-certified producer of biodiesel in Massachusetts and we sell 100% of our biodiesel to Loud Fuel, located on Cape Cod. Loud Fuel then blends every gallon they sell of home heating oil, with our biodiesel. Our service and dependability is above all others. We currently service over 400 restaurant partners and 100% of all the grease we collect stays here in Massachusetts. Please take part in helping to reduce our environmental impact here on Cape Cod!"