Sustainability

Too Good To Go is a service with a mobile application that connects customers with their local food service establishments that have surplus unsold food. The mobile app allows customers to buy and collect surprise bags of food - at a 1/3 of the original price - directly from the food service establishment. This amazing service is now available at STFX Campus Food Through the following locations: Bloomfield Cafe, Twelve Cafe and Keating Cafe. To date, we have saved over 377 meals and avoided 1.02 metric tons CO2e! To learn more about this incredible program please click HERE

The Healthy Cooking for Elementary School Students project aims to educate elementary aged children about nutrition, develop cooking skills, and the importance of making informed food choices through interactive and hands on activities. The project’s overall goal is to educate students about balanced nutrition, fostering healthy eating habits, and promoting long-term well-being.

The program spans five months, with 1-2 sessions per month, each lasting 45 minutes, created by Sodexo and facilitated by StFX university nutrition student volunteers.

“We wanted to start the conversation of food with these students at a young age, we want to increase their nutrition knowledge by helping students understand the role of various food types, developing basic cooking skills to build confidence in the kitchen, and encouraging healthier eating habits while fostering an appreciation for nutritious meals.”

-Breanna Scott, Registered Dietitian

We are proud to announce that the new campus coffee chosen by YOU is now available at Morrison Hall Twelve, Bloomfield Cafe, Keating Cafe and in Catering (excluding Starbucks) The Spirit Bear Coffee Company traces its origins back to the lush rainforests of British Columbia. Founded in 2009 by environmental enthusiasts and coffee aficionados, it began as a humble roastery with a mission deeply rooted in sustainability and wildlife conservation. Inspired by the rare and majestic Kermode bear, also known as the Spirit Bear, the company pledged a portion of its profits to preserving the bear's habitat and supporting local indigenous communities. With a commitment to ethically sourced beans and artisanal roasting techniques, Spirit Bear Coffee quickly gained a loyal following for its exceptional quality and eco-conscious ethos. Over the years, it has expanded its reach beyond the local market, becoming a symbol of ethical entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship in the global coffee industry.

Through these initiatives, Sodexo demonstrates our commitment to fostering educational growth and leadership development within the StFX community.

Sodexo is a proud supporter of StFX bursaries and the annual Athletics Leadership Breakfast. We also back the NSSSA Leadership Conference, a transformative event for students, organized by students.

Our management team actively supports classes throughout the year by offering tours of our facilities and operations. Additionally, we provide presentations for high school, university, and community groups, catering to those eager to gain a deeper understanding of large-scale food service operations.

At Sodexo, we are committed to empowering our campus community by equipping students with the essential skills and resources for success after graduation from StFX. We proudly host up to three dietetic interns from the Human Nutrition Department and have also welcomed marketing interns from the Schwartz School of Business.

Sodexo supports multiple STFX Scholarships and offers some of our own. One being the Sodexo Canada Scholarship presented annually to the top ranked incoming first year student in the Human Nutrition Department, and one $5000 nonrenewable scholarship to a third- or fourth-year human nutrition student from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island who shows professional and academic promise as well as a commitment and interest in working in the food industry. Sodexo also has a bursary in the memory of the late Kevin Fraser, the former General Manager of Sodexo here at StFX. The bursaries are awarded annually to any first- or second-year student from Nova Scotia enrolled full time in the Human Nutrition Department. Every year five bursaries of $1000 are presented to the students in need of financial assistance.

The Circular Food Solution Challenge emerged as a response to the pressing need for sustainable solutions to reduce food waste in Nova Scotia. With Sodexo initiating a partnership with the Antigonish Community Fridge, the challenge aims to find innovative ways to repurpose leftover meal period ingredients into nutritious meals, thereby contributing to both environmental sustainability and community welfare. Throughout the challenge, we have donated in 2024 close to 6000 complete made meals available for those facing food insecurity. with the partnership with the community fridge, we have been able to provide both fridges located at the Antigonish Farmers Market and the Antigonish Public Library with meals and soups from food leftover from meal periods at Morrison Hall and repurposed with packaging to go to those in need. The initiative is currently poised to create 8000-10000 meals in the 2024-2025 academic year for the community. The Circular Food Solution Challenge has brought many valuable insights into promoting sustainable food practices and reducing food waste. By fostering collaboration, innovation, community engagement, education, and scalability, the initiative has laid the foundation for continued efforts to address food waste issues in Nova Scotia and beyond.

Sodexo is a proud member of the Antigonish Chamber of Commerce, demonstrating its commitment to fostering local economic growth and community engagement. As a global leader in quality of life services, Sodexo values the importance of local partnerships and actively participates in initiatives that benefit the Antigonish community. By being a part of the Chamber, Sodexo not only supports local businesses but also collaborates on projects that drive innovation and sustainability within the region. This membership underscores Sodexo's dedication to contributing to the prosperity and well-being of Antigonish, aligning with its broader mission of improving everyday experiences for individuals and communities around the world.

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.

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 recycle on campus to reduce and reuse material. On Campus we recycle the following products: cardboard, glass, steel, aluminum, paper, plastic, and e-waste.

Xprss Nap Dispensers save energy and waste. Not only are the napkins made of 100% recycled paper, 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.

Bring your own reusable mug to any of our retail locations and get 25 cents off the purchase of your hot beverage. (10 cents off at Starbucks)

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. More information about these local farms can be read HERE in one of our bi-monthly newsletter

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.

To achieve our Better Tomorrow 2025 commitment in relation to the responsible sourcing of fish and seafood, Sodexo has established the “Sodexo Sustainable Seafood Sourcing Guide” for the supply of Fish & Seafood respecting various sustainability criteria. Based on a detailed study from experts and supplier information and recommendations, the Guide has been designed as a tool to help Sodexo teams make the best choice for our seafood assortment.

We have collaborated with Ocean Wise in Canada and continue to resource our partnership with WWF globally, applying this strategy to the commodities we purchase includes a careful assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts; for example, we have worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) since 2010 in two key areas:

• WWF advised us as we developed a sustainable sourcing strategy for product categories like fish and seafood that have the highest environmental impact.

• We follow clearly defined criteria for sustainable seafood developed in conjunction with WWF and are committed to sourcing 100% sustainable seafood by 2025 globally.

Leveraging our industry leading procurement policies, structure, and with our supply partners, progress is aimed at inspecting all seafood purchases in Sodexo locations and transition to 100% sustainably designated and certified seafood and fish ingredients.