Agriculture is one of the larger causes of social, environmental, and health problems worldwide. Thus, we can take a stand for a better world with each meal we have together. Our Dining Services at UMass Lowell are working to make our food and beverage purchasing as sustainable as possible.

We here at UMass Lowell, work closely with our dining partners in ARAMARK to develop and implement sustainable solutions for the dietary needs of an expanding campus population. The act of eating is one of the strongest ways to cultivate a healthy connection to the land, which betters our own health in the process.

Dining Options

UMass Lowell (UML) Dining Services offers a wide variety of sustainably sourced and locally produced food so that students, faculty, and staff can enjoy their meals knowing they made a positive impact on the environment, while supporting the local community. A few of these locally produced products include Craic Sauce, Ken’s Dressing, Hood Milk, and many more. Students, faculty, and staff can learn more about dining sustainably on the UMass Lowell University Dining Sustainability webpage. Part of this sustainable dining initiative includes an extensive salad bar, plant-forward menus during Earth Week, and a Campus Dish webpage that lists daily menu options. Perhaps most notably, UMass Lowell Dining Services offers the “Coolfood Meal-Low Carbon Certified,” option. This designation means the meal is certified by the World Resources Institute to have a low impact on the climate. The menus also highlight which of those dishes are plant-based (vegetarian and/or vegan). These food options play a large role in energy, water, and land conservation, while greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, our dining halls do the following to make our impact as beneficial as possible!

  • Reusable Mug Discounts: Several on-campus Starbucks locations offer discounts for customers who bring their own mug.
  • Recycling and Compost: University Dining partners with the campus to recycle and compost from all dining locations across campus
  • Tray-less Dining: University Dining has been tray-less since 2007. Carrying plates by hand tends to lead people to take smaller portions, thus minimizing food waste. Additionally, not using trays means less water, energy, and chemicals that would have entered the waste stream, are used in the process of washing dishes.
  • Energy and Water Conservation: We train our employees each semester on common energy and water conservation practices to conserve precious natural resources.
  • Urban Agriculture: UMass Lowell Sustainability Eco Rep team manages the Rist Rooftop Garden at University Crossing to grow and harvest herbs. Herbs are harvested for UML dining operations and featured in dishes served to the campus community.
  • Hydration Stations: The University has hydration stations throughout campus. These hydration stations prevent the waste of several thousands of single-use plastic bottles and make it easier for those who use reusable water bottles to refill and rehydrate.

Green Restaurant Certification

The Green Restaurant Association has been “greening” restaurants since 1990. The Green Restaurant Association is responsible for reviewing the sustainable actions taken by restaurants and encouraging the restaurants to go even further in their sustainability journey. To make their assessment, the Green Restaurant Association looks at a restaurant’s energy usage, water usage, waste, disposable materials used, chemicals used, the food served, the building materials and efficiency, education & transparency, recycling, and composting.

  • McGauvran Dining Hall – The McGauvran Dining Hall received a 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant certification for its exceptional sustainability efforts. The Green Restaurant Association found that the McGauvran Dining Hall has implemented 46 environmental steps and achieved 187.37 GreenPoints. The Green Restaurant Association also noted that the McGauvran Dining Hall achieved its 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant status by having a robust recycling system and by not using polystyrene foam (Styrofoam).
  • Crossroads Cafe – Crossroads Cafe received a 3 Star Certified Green Certified Green Restaurant certification for its exceptional sustainability efforts. The Green Restaurant Association found that Crossroads Cafe has implemented 52 environmental steps and achieved 239.53 GreenPoints. The Green Restaurant Association also noted that Crossroads Cafe achieved its 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant status by having a robust recycling system and by not using polystyrene foam (Styrofoam).