Earth Week Sodexo teams across the country and around the world celebrated together during Earth Week, April 21-27th. In New England we did our part by celebrating a week of sustainability focused events.

Food Recovery

Sodexo is creating a social safety net for those facing food insecurity in the communities in which we operate. We are supporting Stop Hunger year-round by donating time, resources, and expertise, holding fundraisers, and encouraging others to get involved. Our operators have organized a collective food rescue program which spans across New England. Our teams have committed to working with a food rescue organization in their area and donating surplus food from production, catering and retail. We have paired with food rescues such as Haven’s Harvest, FoodRecovery.org, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine and Food Rescue US to deploy volunteers who pick up food and bring it to those in the community. Fourteen locations in Maine, six in Connecticut, seventeen in Massachusetts, and two in Rhode Island have already started donating. Food is delivered to help community centers, food pantries, women’s shelters, and homeless Veterans to name a few. We are making an impact and helping feed our communities. This is just the beginning of a long and impactful partnership.

Chef David Lafleur and the team from Framingham State University have donated to rescuing Leftover Cuisine 23 times since February. This equates to 1,035 pounds of food, 863 meals served, and 2,412 pounds of carbon emissions diverted from our landfills.

Food Rescue US speaks to the UMass Boston Partnership

"We are grateful for the commitment Julia Tesoro and staff have made to donating from the student cafe at UMass Boston. Working with UMass is easy and fun, and our communities see clear and immediate benefits. Volunteer Anthony told me that often when he drops off at a community fridge, neighbors are waiting for him to help unload. The donations are sometimes eaten right then and there and become a mutual effort of alleviating hunger in Boston. Thank you for your effort!"- Charie Burns Food Recue US.

Haven’s Harvest

On April 6th Tammy Hill, General Manager at Southern Connecticut State University spoke about food and social injustice. By donating food and diverting waste from landfills, we reduce CO2 emissions, helping to feed the community and lessening our environmental impact.

Atlantic Sea Farms, Biddeford, ME

Climate change is already making landfall on coastal communities in the US, and our future depends on finding new ways for fishing families to work on the water while improving the health of our oceans. By working alongside fishing families to cultivate regenerative kelp on open ocean sea farms, Atlantic Sea Farms has grown to represent most of the farmed seaweed in the US.

Why is Kelp Important?

Seaweed absorbs carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus from the water and atmosphere, and can store an estimated 175 million tons of carbon each year. It produces 70% more oxygen than land plants and can help mitigate ocean acidification, which helps marine organisms grow.

Locally Sourced Lunch

From Maine to Connecticut, our accounts in New England all featured locally sourced food during Earth Week. Together we supported hundreds of farms and local businesses and served thousands of pounds of locally sourced food in our dining locations.

During Earth Week, Thomas College featured Pineland Farms smash burgers, Maine-grown hand cut fries, Short Creek Farms breaded pork cutlets, Harvesting Good lemon garlic broccoli, and Maine grown mashed potatoes.

UMass Boston

UMass Boston is dedicated to purchasing locally, reducing food waste through Leanpath, helping alleviate hunger in the community by donating food and empowering our culinary team to get creative with environmentally friendly dishes. UMass Boston hosted a local lunch during earth week showing off their culinary talent and pride in supporting local.

Southern Connecticut State University Kiwibot Food Drive

PLANT BASED POP-UPS

Sodexo is committed to making 50% of its College and University menus plant-based by 2025.

Plant-based diets can help mitigate climate change by reducing carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions. A 2023 study found that vegan diets produce 75% less heat-trapping gas, water pollution, and land use than diets that include at least one hundred grams of meat per day. Plant-based diets can also help conserve water resources and reduce pollution.

Local Vendor Fairs

Over the spring, we focused on featuring local businesses through retail promotions, pop-up events, station take-overs and locally sourced lunches. The businesses we feature source locally, which reduces the need for shipping, transportation, and conserves energy. On April 18th Merrimack College Dining hosted a So Local Market. Five local vendors attended the event. Atomic Coffee Roasters, Soney Bees, Prana Plants, Cedar’s, and Local Craft Hot Sauce. UMass Boston, Bridgewater State University and Bentley University hosted similar events featuring vendors such as Three Bee's, Hillside Harvest, 88 Acres, Akua, Narragansett Creamery, Ashley's Confections, Granny Squibbs, and Gotham Greens.

Planting the Seed

Providence k-12 collects compost from over forty Kitchens and eight schools that have student supported sorting stations in the cafeteria. The compost is sent to Bootstrap Compost. The soil students used to plant on earth week was from Bootstrap, making the full circle back to students. On Earth Day, students learned about compost, planted seedlings, and learned about the growing process. Teaching students about growing food can help them learn about the environment, develop life skills, and appreciate the food they eat.

Green Restaurant Association

The Green Restaurant Association, an international nonprofit organization, has pioneered the Green Restaurant® movement as the leading voice within the industry, encouraging restaurants to green their operations using transparent, science-based certification standards. Green Restaurant Association has made it accessible for thousands of restaurants to become more environmentally sustainable in energy, water, waste, food, chemicals, disposables, & building.

Salve Regina’s Miley Cafe is now Green Restaurant Certified

Tackling Food Waste

Sodexo is committed to reducing our food waste by 50% by 2025. Through our food rescue efforts, Weigh the Waste events, food drives, educational tabling and our accounts utilizing Waste Watch by Leanpath, we are making an enormous impact across New England and beyond.

Weigh the Waste Events

COMPOSTING & RECYCLING

Leanpath

When we prevent food waste, we are addressing some of the planet’s most pressing sustainability concerns. When we stop buying food only to throw it out, we stop contributing to the greenhouse gases that food waste produces. We no longer squander the water it took to grow that food and we quit using the energy/power and human energy to prep that food. By addressing food waste, we impact our most important sustainability issues, with Leanpath we have the data to prove it.