Campus Dining

Campus Dining is on a sustainability journey, incorporating the best, most sustainable practices throughout all phases of food service on Auburn University’s campus.

Photo including fresh fish and cucumbers from Aquaponics served on campus–>

Every journey beings with a single step, and this journey started in Fall 2014, when we eliminated polystyrene from all campus dining facilities.

Forging a creative, mutually beneficial relationship with Auburn’s horticulture and fisheries departments was the next step in the process.  This collaboration supports the Aquaponics system, growing fish and vegetables at the E.W. Shell fisheries center and supplying these fresh foods to campus within hours of harvest.

The next step led us to the corner of Wire Road and Shug Jordan Parkway, the location of the College of Agriculture’s Lambert-Powell Meats Lab.  The partnership created with this group provides Auburn’s campus with fresh beef and pork products.

The commitment to sustainable foods took a big step forward  with the award of our most recent dining contract in May 2018.  This contract specifies that 20% of foods served on campus must be procured from local sources.

But the journey is far from over.  Stay tuned as we take steps toward our vision:  a completely sustainable food system on campus.  This food system will include all aspects of food production from planting to harvest to compost.  This system will be unique in that it will include goals such as minimizing food waste in food prep areas and addressing concerns such as food insecurity (Campus Kitchens Project) and nutrition counseling.