All eight of our dining halls have recently achieved the highest level of certification from the Green Restaurant Association (GRA). UConn is the only campus in the United States to have every dining hall become four-star certified.
To achieve certification, UConn Dining had to meet several GRA requirements, including the implementation of sustainable practices in the following areas:
The GRA is a nonprofit organization that works to create an environmentally sustainable restaurant industry by helping restaurants become more environmentally responsible. Their standards reflect over 30 years of research in the field of restaurants and the environment.
The purpose of the GRA standards is to provide a transparent way to measure each restaurant’s environmental accomplishments, while providing a pathway for the next steps they can take to increase their environmental sustainability. Restaurants can earn GreenPoints™ in any of the eight categories below. To become a Certified Green Restaurant®, enough GreenPoints™ must be earned across the categories.
UConn Dining has implemented several sustainable practices over the years, including trayless dining to reduce food waste and water usage, measuring pre-consumer waste, sending waste to be transformed into biogas and compost, and recycling cooking oil. Dining is also the largest procurer of local produce in Connecticut.
Below are just some of the practices that have been implemented in each category to achieve a four-star rating:
In addition, three of UConn’s Dining Halls have recently received awards from the Green Restaurant Association.
UConn Dining has also received recognition for its sustainable practices from other organizations, including the Sustainable Foodservice Leaders Award from the National Association of College and University Food Services and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Recovery Challenge Award.
To learn more about more about the GRA points that each dining hall has achieved visit https://dining.uconn.edu/certified-green/
Dining halls will have normal hours through May 4th.
Planning Ahead? Holiday and break hours for the dining halls are posted at the start of every semester on our hours page.
Looking for summer dining hall info?
The annual Earth Day Spring Fling, co-hosted by the UConn Office of Sustainability and UConn Dining Services, will take place Wednesday, April 19th on Fairfield Way from 11am-2pm. The sustainability festival will include vendors, fun activities, and a Zero Waste BBQ catered by Dining Services.
The Zero Waste BBQ from Dining will feature vegan, vegetarian, and sustainable menu items that have been locally sourced. Lunch will cost one flex pass or $12 credit/debit. The meal cost will include a small ice cream from the UConn Dairy Bar truck that will be on site. UConn Bakery will also be on Fairfield Way handing out cupcakes decorated with a BBQ theme (while supplies last).
See below for menu and schedule. Make sure to sign up & sign a waiver for outdoor yoga at sustainability.uconn.edu/earth-day-spring-fling
Planning Ahead? Holiday and break hours for the dining halls are posted at the start of every semester on our hours page.
Union Street Market:
C-Store – normal hours
Mango
Bookworms Cafe
Market Cafe
Dairy Bar
UConn Admissions will have an action-packed program for admitted students and their family members on Saturday, April 1st and Saturday, April 15th.
The following Dining Services locations will be open for visitors. All locations are cashless (except the Dairy Bar). All major debit/credit is accepted.
DINING HALLS
All dining halls are open except Buckley, click here for a map
Brunch Prices for UConn Bound Days:
Adult: $10 (plus tax)
Child under 12: $7 (plus tax)
Hours:
Putnam: 10:30am-2:30pm
South: 10:30am-2:00pm
North & Whitney: 10:30am-2pm
McMahon & Northwest: 10:30am-2:15pm
Gelfenbien: 10:30am-2:30pm
RETAIL LOCATIONS
Student Union
Union Street Market: 10:30am-Midnight
Market Cafe: 8am-4pm
Earth, Wok & Fire: 11am-2:30pm
Union Exchange Convenience Store (C-Store): 11am-7pm
Other Locations:
Bookworms Cafe (Library): 10am-4pm
Mango (Rec Center): 10am-6pm
Food For the Pack (Food Truck – Fairfield Way): 11:30am-2:30pm
Dairy Bar: 11am-7pm
Dairy Bar Truck (Fairfield Way) – 11am-3pm
PASSOVER 2023 – NOSH Kosher Kitchen in Gelfenbien and Hillel House will be serving Passover meals Wednesday, April 5th to Thursday, April 13th by reservation only.
Any meals at Hillel House will be catered by Nosh Kosher Kitchen. All other meals are prepared by Nosh Kosher Kitchen and served at Gelfenbien Commons.
Meals can be paid for by meal swipes, points, flex passes, check, credit card, or billed to your fee bill.
Each guest must be signed up on a separate form and may be paid for by points, flex passes, check, credit card, or fee bill.
All meal swipes, flex passes and points will be taken off your meal plan when your form is submitted.
Paying by credit card or check must be done at Dining Services, located in Towers/Hamilton building, by April 5th.
There are no refunds for missed meals.
Keep a copy of this form for your own records.
Contact: Kimberly Phillips, Kimberly.DeBaise@uconn.edu
STORRS, Conn. – Propelled by the success of food pantries at each of the regional campuses, Husky Harvest at UConn’s main campus in Storrs will open Monday for thousands of students without a meal plan and without a full cupboard.
While the pantry will be available to anyone with a UConn ID, it is geared to those living off-campus who are not required to have a meal plan and therefore may not have regular access to nutritious food, Michael White, executive director of Dining Services, says. That includes 2,000 undergraduate students who live in places like the Carriage House Town Homes and Celeron Square apartments.
White says the first step to establishing the pantry was finding a location that was central to campus, had patron parking, and offered some level of discreetness. Almost fortuitously, the 600-square-foot former convenience store in the Charter Oak Apartments Community Center popped onto the radar.
With a bus stop not far from the front door and located just off Discovery Drive, the space also was ideal because students who live in the Charter Oak Apartments aren’t required to have meal plans and might very well be among those who would benefit the most.
“We wanted a location that would service not only the undergraduate population, but the graduate students, faculty, staff, essentially anyone with a UConn ID,” White says. “That had a lot to do with how we talked about locations.”
A grand opening of the Storrs location for invited guests and the media will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, March 20, at the pantry in the Charter Oak Apartments Community Center, 916 Tower Court Road, Storrs. Regular hours will be Mondays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Husky Harvest at Storrs will operate in much the same way as the Husky Harvest pantries at the regional campuses that have opened over the last several months. A partnership with Connecticut Foodshare is enabling the venture and providing grocery staples with regular deliveries.
White says he’s borrowing ideas from experiences at the regional campuses, including Avery Point, where staff has made available simple recipes that account for ingredients typically found on the shelves, like stewed tomatoes and beans. In Stamford, Husky Harvest offers personal care items, including shampoo and deodorant, another offering White hopes to have with funding from the Undergraduate Student Government.
“I don’t want to get into the scenario – and I know it happens in life – that someone has to decide between putting food on their plate and taking a shower,” White says. “That’s a very challenging decision for anybody to make. Just being able to take a shower sometimes can really reset your wellbeing.”
Eventually, he says he expects to take donations from the public but plans to operate this semester solely with Connecticut Foodshare support. In time, though, he can see departmental food drives, a kitchen equipment and gadget collection, and leftovers from the cafes all earmarked for pantry patrons.
“This is no longer a topic that people are afraid of,” White says. “We know that the UConn community will go above and beyond.”
Contributions to the UConn Storrs Campus Food Insecurity Fund at the UConn Foundation can be made online. Visit the pantry’s website for more details.
Questions about Husky Harvest can be directed to Kimberly Phillips, Kimberly.DeBaise@uconn.edu.
Beginning March 22nd all students with a residential meal plan observing Ramadan will be able to pick up meals at South Dining Hall or Gelfenbien Dining Hall. Dining Services will have a hot dinner buffet available along with a variety of breakfast items. For more details and sign up, please visit dining.uconn.edu/ramadan.
Save the date! Each semester Dining Services hosts a Give-A-Meal event. Donate a flex pass at dinner on the 1st to support your fellow huskies. All proceeds go to support the Students First Fund to assist students experiencing food insecurity. Find more info on the program at studentaffairs.uconn.edu/students-first-fund/
