Sustainability
Dining Services supports the University's sustainability initiative by using locally grown, minimally processed ingredients, selling Fair Trade coffee as well as recycling and composting our waste products.
All of Dining Services' baked goods are made with Shepard's Grain flour, which is produced by local farmers with sustainable practices.
Locally Grown Flour and Legumes
Dining Services' commitment to sustainability began nearly ten years ago when we started our partnership with Shepherd's Grain Flour & Legumes. Shepherd's Grain is an alliance of local farmers who practice sustainable agriculture. Shepherd's Grain supplies all of Dining Services' flour for our baked goods, and ingredients like lentils and garbanzo beans for our recipes.
Since we began our partnership with Shepherd's Grain, our sustainable practices have expanded to include purchasing a wide variety of our ingredients locally, from our meat and poultry to our produce and dairy products. With these local ingredients, Dining Services has created several signature recipes including Lentil Chili, Palouse Chocolate Lentil Cake, Lemon Garbanzo Bean Cake, and a wide variety of other cakes, cookies, and pies. Even our pizzas are made with sustainable flour and local ingredients.
Local Fruits, Vegetables, and Proteins
We purchase local ingredients and integrate them into our recipes wherever possible. One of our well known desserts is a Washington berry cobbler that become a favorite of our customers. We use local strawberries and berries from Walla Walla, Washington. We also use St. Maries Wild Rice that is a local product from St. Maries, Idaho.
In addition, all of our potatoes come from Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities here in Washington state. The majority of our beef is from Angus Meats of Spokane Washington, and we use Draper Valley Farms, of Mount Vernon, WA, for our chicken. We also purchase fruit from the WSU Orchards and the Tuky Organic Farm on campus.
Local, Sustainable Suppliers
We continue to encourage our other food suppliers to switch to Shepherd's Grain flour and share our commitment to sustainability. The Hearthbread Bakehouse in Spokane, WA supplies Dining Services sliced bread and buns and uses only Shepherd's Grain. The DeLeon Family, a Spokane based food producer and deli, supplies the tortillas and tortilla chips for Carlita's Mexican Grille and Espresso in the Compton Union Building, and also uses Shepherd's Grain.
Fair Trade Coffee and Espresso
Our commitment to sustainability is also evident in our purchase of Fair Trade and Organic Coffee. Local Coffee Roaster Thomas Hammer supplies drip coffee in the University Dining Café's as well Espresso Beverages at Carlita's in the CUB. We are also partners with Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee who have a well-known commitment to fair and sustainable practices.
Compostable and BioDegradable Tableware
Dining Services also moves beyond food and practices sustainability by using compostable tableware at our facilities. Our "green" cups are made with corn products and are utilized in every single Dining Services facility from Carlita's, to Hillside, to our Espresso Bars. The straws and lids for these cups are also compostable. The flatware that we use at Carlita's and our Dining Centers and Espresso Bars is made from potato products and composts in just a matter of weeks. Finally, our dishware is made of paper which is compostable and recyclable.
