Sodexo Canada, StFX’s food service partner, has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers on four separate occasions, including for 2022 by Mediacorp Canada. Over the last number of years at StFX, Sodexo Canada has implemented a number of progressive and sustainable changes to its dining program which have helped lessen our collective environmental impact. This special designation continues to recognize Sodexo’s leadership in creating and developing a culture of sustainability. Sodexo’s sustainability strategy focuses on the four pillars that are aligned with their Better Tomorrow 2025 corporate responsibility roadmap which includes: prevention of food waste, prevent material waste, promote plant-based meals & responsible sourcing.
In October 2020, Sodexo Canada announced its partnership with the Humane Society International (HSI) as part of their plan to elevate plant-based menu offerings in Sodexo accounts across Canada. As part of the partnership, HSI/Canada's Forward Food program will provide new plant based training for existing Sodexo culinary professionals to develop new, innovative custom plant-based recipes. This partnership also includes Sodexo’s commitment towards a transition of swapping at least 20% of the food ingredients used to plant-based.
We are shifting all our shell eggs to cage free sources. This shift is part of our Better Tomorrow Plan commitment to sustainability raised products.
Tray less dinning reduces the amount of water and detergent used, saves energy and reduces food wastage. Trayless dining saves an estimated 80,000 Gallons of water per year, along with associated energy and food waste reduction.
We use bulk condiment dispensers to reduce the amount of plastic and food waste as well as reduce water consumption.
We save energy by turning equipment on and off only as needed
As part of Sodexo's commitment towards reducing its carbon emission by 34% by 2025, our unit had recently implemented Leanpath, an on-going easy process of tracking pre & post consumer food waste that captures information such as food type, loss and source. This platform generates actionable data to help employees engage and make direct changes to drive food waste reduction.
Xpress Nap Dispensers save energy and waste. Not only are the napkins made of 100% recycled paper, but the dispensers also encourage customers to take (and waste) fewer napkins. Energy is saved because less power is used to recycle paper products than to create them from virgin material.
Food waste in landfills creates methane, a greenhouse gas which is 21x more potent than CO2. Our first priority is to reduce food waste. We compost food waste to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also to enhance and amend soil health by improving soil structure, enhancing micro-organism content, increasing drought tolerance and reducing need for water and fertilizers.
Since 2019, instead of composting our coffee grounds, we introduced the Grounds for Growth program where we offer fresh coffee grounds for any interested individual to use them as organic plant fertilizers. Coffee grounds are excellent natural resource that help improve plant water retention and contribute additional organic material to the soil.
51% of the products used by Sodexo on the STFX campus come from the Maritimes and 16% comes from small business. Annually we host local suppliers and feature their products through our Morrison Hall menu and catering menus. Our current local partners includes but not limited to - Spurr Brothers Farmers LTD, den Haan Greenhouses, Sawler Farms LTD, VanMeekeren Farms, Vermeulen Farms LTD, and Bonnyman's Wild Blueberries.