Food
Global food systems account for over a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. NYU Dining & Catering is committed to fostering and promoting sustainability through its business practices, menu offerings, and dining operations.
Cool Food Pledge
New York University is a signatory to the Cool Food Pledge, a commitment to reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030.
This pledge is in partnership with global organizations, collectively serving over 1.2 billion meals per year, and it encompasses all centrally contracted dining facilities and catering at NYU’s campuses in New York, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi, accounting for over 20 NYU-run dining facilities around the world.
To accomplish this, NYU has incorporated the EAT-Lancet and Menus of Change frameworks into its dining principles, emphasizing a variety of sustainability objectives.
These efforts include:
- Featuring daily menus that have plant-forward entrees that are attractive, tasty, healthy, protein-rich, and wellness-oriented.
- Focusing on whole, minimally processed food.
- Offering vegan options wherever dairy products are offered. Currently all retail locations have plant-based ice creams, and all residential locations have plant-based desserts at their sweet shoppe counters.
- Serving plant-based burgers at every grill location.
- Buying fresh, seasonal and local products to support family farms and businesses.
- Bringing educational programs to teach students how to make delicious, healthy, climate-friendly choices, and how to cook these meals for themselves.
All residential NYU dining locations are also Green Restaurant Association certified, which holds them accountable for meeting additional sustainability measures related to water, waste, energy, and more. NYU also received a Gold rating through the Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System (STARS), conducted by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).