Flik Dining Services

SEED (Sustainable Eating and Environmental Dining) is our way of engaging in positive practices that compliment the Flik Independent Schools’ food and nutrition philosophy. The goal is to protect the environment and the ability for future generations to thrive. It has become the umbrella under which we encompass all of our sustainable efforts.

Slow Cuisine

Every month with the Slow Cuisine Program, we highlight a different food that is consistent with the principles of the Slow Food Movement. By educating our students about locally produced foods, we are helping to promote the appreciation and consumption of seasonal and local foods and the support of those who produce them.

Fair Trade Coffees

With our selected partners for coffee Pura Vida Coffee, we have been able to help promote fair trade coffee on our campus. Many farmers around the world receive pay lower than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. Fair Trade works to correct these imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum wage for small producers' harvests and by encouraging sustainable cultivation methods.

Certified Cage Free Shell Eggs

Certified Humane eggs meet the animal welfare standards of an independent auditing organization called Humane Farm Animal Care. Battery cages are not permitted and the housing facilities must include areas for hens to nest, dust bathe, scratch, and perch. This policy was developed with guidance from the experts at the Humane Society of the United States and we are proud to serve cage free whole shell eggs on our campuses.

Food Focus

This program helps us educate students about our food with our food. We focus on different foods of the world either by specifying a food from a particular region or choosing a food demonstrating how it is used in different parts of the world.

Antibiotic-Free Chicken and Pork

Compass Group has instituted, with partners Environmental Defense and Smithfield Foods, Inc., a first-of-its-kind purchasing policy to curb antibiotic use in pork production. The policy prohibits the purchase of pork or chicken in which antibiotics that belong to classes of compounds approved for use in human medicine have been used for growth promotion purposes. It also requires suppliers to report and reduce antibiotic usage over time.

Project Clean Plate

This program is designed to teach students to only take what they are going to eat to conserve on waste. Not only does it reduce waste, but the difference in the amount of food produced before the run of the program and after is donated to the local food banks and food pantries in our community.

Going Trayless

At SLC we are encouraging students to participate in our “Going Trayless” efforts as part of the attempt to go green by saving energy and water and decreasing food waste and the use of cleaning chemicals.

Balanced Choices

Balanced Choices was developed by a task force of registered dietitians, chefs and managers, and provides a wellness vision for our cafes. This program promotes offering and selling less-healthy option before their counterparts.

Trim Trax

Trim Trax, a food waste reduction program and green initiative. It is designed to be implemented and executed by staff to increase engagement and operational efficiency, as well as create awareness about the environmental impact of food waste.

www.DineOnCampus.com/slc

The local website dedicated to the dining program at Sarah Lawrence College. It displays nutritional information, recipes, comment board, and promotes dining services happenings on campus.

Trans Fat Free Cooking & Frying Oils

Our Campuses have switched to using non-hydrogenated, trans-fat free canola oil and/or olive oil for cooking and nonhydrogenated canola or soybean oils in the fryers. Our purchasing department provides a zero trans-fat frying oil in every distribution center.

Color Your Plate Healthy

This program incorporates healthy menu choices with signage that aims to increase students’ awareness of what they are putting on their plates. Each menu item offered is labeled with the color or colors that represent the food group or groups that the item comes from. Students are encouraged to select a variety of “colors” to put on their plate, creating a more balanced meal.

Sustainable Seafood

Our promise with the implementation of the sustainable seafood program is to shift the purchase of Atlantic Cod to Pollock, Pacific Cod or other sustainable seafood alternative, decreasing the use of farmed salmon and non-US farmed shrimp by 20%, avoid the species that are specified by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program and increase use of “Best Choices” seafood picks and support positive change in the aquaculture industry.

Food Recovery

Flik and Westchester Food Recovery are working together to reduce waste from Sarah Lawrence College campus and help feed hungry Westchester children, seniors and their families. Our part in this mission to alleviate hunger and minimize food waste is to freeze or refrigerate as per HAACP standards and label excess food at the end of each week and prepare containers to be picked up by the Food Recovery staff. The food is then distributed to Westchester food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, adult and childcare centers.

An Alternative Form of Transportation

The staff of FLIK at Sarah Lawrence College has found a unique solution dealing with their used fryer oil and the increase of gas prices. A Westchester county delivery truck with a diesel engine has been converted to burn both diesel and used fryer oil. A system provided by American Alternative Energy uses diesel fuel to start the engine. After warming the engine, a switch is flipped and the vehicle then runs on the used fryer oil. Projected fuel savings are 90% less usage of diesel with the fryer oil substitute. The fryer oil emits no hydrocarbons, burns cleaner, and is expected to prolong engine life.