Gonzaga Named to “Green Guide to College’s” 2013 List-Dining Large Reason

We are pleased to announce that our partner’s at Gonzaga University were named for the first time in the “Green Guide to College.”

From the official press release: “NEW YORK, April 16, 2013 / — As the nation gears up to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com), in collaboration with the Center for Green Schools (www.centerforgreenschools.org) at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), today released the fourth annual edition of its free guidebook saluting the most environmentally responsible “green colleges.”

“The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition” profiles 320 schools in the U.S. and two in Canada that demonstrate notable commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation. The 215-page book—the only free, comprehensive, annual guide to green colleges—can be downloaded at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide and at www.centerforgreenschools.org/greenguide. The guide was developed with generous support from United Technologies Corp. (www.utc.com), founding sponsor of the Center for Green Schools.”

We are especially excited because of the large focus on food in the reason why Gonzaga was chosen. Here is what they had to say: We are so proud of all of our efforts and know that we could not have been recognized if it weren’t for our forward thinking partners and customers!

The Zag Dining Food Truck is coming and it needs a name!

It’s finally here- Gonzaga University will be seeing Zag Dining’s newest and not to mention hip addition in the next week!  The lunch menu will consist of five entrees that will rotate every day for the reasonable price of just $6 or $7 with a drink and will accept Dining Dollars, Bulldog Bucks, Cash and Credit Card.  Here’s the scheduled menu:

Monday- Steak and Onion Sandwich

With smoked gouda & horseradish sauce served with parmesan rosemary fries

 Tuesday- Asian BBQ Pork Sandwich served on a ciabatta roll with coleslaw

or

Kalua Pork Bowl Served with calrose Rice & lomi lomi tomato

 Wednesday- Choice of Carne Asada Burrito or Chicken Burrito served with cilantro lime rice, refried beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce & cheese

(Vegetarian Option available)

 Thursday- Chicken Pita Wrap or Beef Gyro served with tomato cucumber relish, kalamata olives, feta cheese, tzatziki sauce

(Vegetarian Option available)

 Friday-General Tso Chicken with Yakisoba Noodles served with Asian Wok Vegetables and Yakisoba Noodles tossed in a Spicy Asian BBQ Sauce

(Steamed Rice Option available, Vegetarian Option available)

The currently white Food Truck will be appearing for the first time in the next few days! We’ll keep you posted on the official start date and times. Why is it white one might ask? Because Zag Dining wants YOUR to help name it!

 Be creative, be fun, be catchy in coming up with the name by March 6^th.

First Place will win 20 FREE MEALS W/ DRINK from the Truck, an Iggy’s Pizza Party for 8 AND an iTunes Gift Card.

Second Place will win an Iggy’s Pizza Party for 8 and an iTunes Gift Card.

Third Place will win an iTunes Gift Card.

Email Sarah.Clifford@sodexo.com with all ideas!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

Zag Dining Kicks Off Helping Hands Across America Community Food Drive

All proceeds from Zag Dining’s food drive will benefit 2^nd Harvest Inland Northwest

Zag Dining by Sodexo and Gonzaga University are coming together to fight hunger in the Inland Northwest in support of the company’s nationwide food drive effort, Helping Hands Across America.

The Helping Hands Across America food drive is a two week event which started October 29th and goes through November 12^th and aims to raise funds for 2^nd Harvest Inland Northwest.  This feel-good event is designed to bring the community together to raise awareness for the problem of hunger that affects thousands of residents in Spokane, the Greater Inland Empire and millions of Americans nationwide.

“Sodexo is committed to raising hunger awareness, a problem that affects thousands right in our backyard,” said Chuck Faulkinberry, Zag Dining’s general manager.  “We’re coming together to provide much-needed food to those suffering from hunger in our community and we hope this effort will help get more people involved in this important cause.”

In 2011, Zag Dining by Sodexo and Gonzaga University dining collected over $10,000 worth of food via can donations, Bulldog Buck and Dining Dollar donations and hope to collect even more this year. Through Sodexo’s STOP Hunger initiative and the work of the Sodexo Foundation, the company is committed to fighting hunger by raising awareness and encouraging community involvement. Sodexo knows that college students are leading the way in raising awareness for important societal issues and Helping Hands Across America is just one way to get involved.

Students, faculty and staff will be involved in delivering the canned goods and money collected during the Helping Hands Across America food drive to Second Harvest Inland Northwest. For more information or to get involved, visit www.zagdining.com.

 

Sustainability Challenge Day 5: Nutrition

Nutrition is one of our favorite topics, so we are excited to end our Sustainability Challenge with a bang! Before we get into what we offer our customers to stay healthy and challenge you to choose healthy, let’s start with the promotions for today.

1. Buy a Turkey Burger in Spikes today and receive a free reusable cup!
2. Iggy’s Gluten Free Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza just $6 when picked up
3. LoCro soups Gluten Free Chicken Noodle and Vegetarian Garden Rotini
4. Sign up for MyFitnessPal where most Sodexo COG Recipes are available as well as all of our Simply To Go items…just scan the bar code!
5. The COG will be serving a variety of well balanced items like whole wheat pizza, turkey burgers, Vegan Tropical Stir Fry and the Omelet Bar.

We care a lot about the health of our guests and making every day a better day. That is why we go out of our way to make sure that our customers always have healthy options, dietary restriction friendly food to make dining in our restaurants easy.   We hope we educate our guests enough to choose the healthy options.  Here are just some of the things we do to promote healthy eating:

• We have a registered dietitian on our staff.
• The COG always has two stations Gluten Free and a separate Fridge filled with Gluten Free breads, wraps, muffins, etc. We also have a special Gluten Free Toaster Oven.
• The COG always has fresh non fat local Darigold Milk and lowfat Chocolate Milk.
• The COG always has Silk vanilla & chocolate Milk (Now in bulk!), Almond Milk and Coconut Milk.
• The COG always has a dedicated station for Vegan and Vegetarian entrees.
• The COG nutrition facts are always posted at each item and online at zagdining.com as well as on MyFitnessPal.
• We offer tossed to order salads at every meal, egg whites and fresh veggies at the omelet station, turkey burgers, Vegan Cous Cous burgers, Raw Crudite Bar, Brown Rice at every meal, whole wheat pizza, and many other specials that are well balanced.
• Our Certified Executive Chef is always willing to meet with any student who has dietary allergies or restrictions and would like to learn how to navigate the COG or come up with a special menu.
• Our Simply to Go program has all the nutrition facts on the box as well as in MyFitnessPal….just scan the bar code.
• We use Shepherd’s Grain in our baked goods across campus.
• All of our Coffee shops have Soy, Almond and Rice milk available.
• Iggy’s is the only Gluten Free pizza in the area available for delivery.
• LoCro carries a variety of Gluten Free, Organic, Lactose Free and local items as well as always one Gluten Free Soup and one Vegetarian.
• All of our COG soups are Gluten Free made with Corn Starch and GF noodles.
• All of our Salad Dressings are home made, gluten free and low fat.

Here are some things you can do:

• Look for reduced fat selections
• Choose a beverage with no added sugar (how about our infused waters in the COG!)
• Choose fresh veggies from our raw bar or salad bar
• Have fruit for dessert
• Look for the well balanced icon 
• Eat whole grains
• Find time to exercise
• Walk or ride your bike to school
• Choose to go meatless one day a week
• Look for these Logos to identify Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Local, Organic and Healthy:

Today is the last day of the challenge be sure to turn your Challenge Sheets into the COG Cashiers so that you can win itunes and amazon.com gift cards and other prizes!

Sustainability Challenge Day 4: Community

Day 4 of the Sustainability Challenge focuses on Community and what we can do to help support not just our local communities, but sourcing from ethical businesses and communities across the world.

Here are a few promotions we are running today to highlight community:

1. Fair Trade or Ethically Sourced Drip coffee is just .99¢ today. All of our coffee in Jazzmans is Fair Trade Certified and all of our Craven’s Coffee is ethically sourced if not Fair Trade Certified. Also, all of our Aspretto Coffee in the COG is also Fair Trade Certified and Numi Tea!
2. Tilfords, Barneys and Crosby will be serving Zambia Gold Honey Ginger Snaps.
3. The COG will be hosting a table to have volunteers sign up for different activities to help give back to the community.

Here are a few things we do to support Community:

• We serve Local and/or Fair Trade Ethically sourced coffee in ALL of our locations.
• We donate all leftover food to Campus Kitchen.
• We offer a Go Green Meal plan and donate $50 of each meal plan back to Gonzaga’s Sustainability Community.
• We have raised almost $20,000 in the last year for 2nd Harvest.
• We volunteer regularly at 2nd Harvest.
• We were named Employer of the Year by the Arc of Spokane in 2012.
• We were nominated for Employer of the Year by Hire Ability Day in 2011 and 2012.
• We serve on non profit committees in the Spokane community.
• We have Cage Free Eggs available.

Here’s what YOU can do:

• Look for certifications when making purchases like Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade Certified, Food Alliance Certified, Marine Stewardship Council, Global Aquaculture Alliance and Certified Humane.
• Sign up to volunteer.
• Assist in a  local humanitarian crisis.
• Donate money to a local cause.

Only two more days to participate to win itunes, amazon.com gift cards and many other prizes! Pick up your slip today or print it out from our blog!

Sustainability Challenge Day 3: Sourcing

At Zag Dining, we take sourcing seriously. We not only care about our environment, but we also want to help support our local economy and community. That is why we try and source local wherever and whenever we can while also accommodating our wide range of guests needs.

Here are the specials we are running today:

1. Our famous Shepherd’s Grain (Local, sustainable wheat) Cinnamon Rolls made fresh every day are just 99¢ today! Available in all retail locations.
2. In LoCro, buy one of our Shepherd’s Grain homemade sourdough bread bowls and soup and receive a free 16oz Fair Trade Jazzman’s Latte with flavor.
3. Iggy’s Shepherd’s Grain Pick-Up Special-$5 for cheese or pepperoni pizza
4. The COG will be serving MSC Certified Sustainable Seafood for lunch including Volcano Spiced Yellowfin Tuna sesame rice, cucumber namasu, wasabi soy cilantro sauce
5. The COG will also be testing their new homemade Shepherd’s Grain Hamburger Buns.
6. Farmer’s Market today will be featuring Stewart from C&S Hydrohuts to talk about Hydroponic gardening. 2-5pm outside of Crosby!

Here are some of the things we are doing to practice sustainable sourcing:

• Purchase and use local, Shepherd’s Grain wheat in all of our COG rolls, some desserts, cinnamon rolls, Iggy’s Pizza, and LoCro bread bowls.
• We have a baker on campus who bakes everything fresh and local.
• We host a farmer’s market every Wednesday in the Fall and Spring.
• We utilize local HyrdoHut hydroponic lettuce and also have our own mini Hydroponic Garden.
• We purchase local vegetables and fruit when in season and if not in season, we try to purchase at least organic.
• We only serve MSC Certified Sustainable Fish.
• We use local Cravens Coffee in all of retail locations (with the exception of Jazzmans, which is FairTrade).
• We have Cage Free Eggs available in the COG.
• We serve local, fresh, hormone free milk from Darigold.
• LoCro market features local and organic items for sale at all times.
• We use Eco-Lab cleaning products
• Our appliances are Energy Star rated
• We only use recyclable paper in our offices.

Here are some things you can do:

• Look for the L icon when eating in the COG to know you are eating locally.
• Understand your local growing calender
• Support Farmer’s Markets around town.
• Look for the “Buy Local” Signage around town.
• Purchase green cleaning supplies
• Use items with recycled content

Sustainability Challenge Day 2: Fight Waste & Hunger

Today we focus our efforts on Fighting Waste and Hunger which also coincides with Sodexo’s Global Waste-Less Day. To participate in the challenge pick up a form at the COG or download one here.

Here are some of the promo’s we are running today to encourage people to Waste-Less:

1. The COG will be passing out samples in order to encourage people to try the dish before they take the entire plate.
2. All retail locations are offering a 99cent drip coffee to anyone who brings in a Reusable Cup.

Here are a just a few things we are doing every day to Fight Hunger and Waste-Less:

1. In 2008, we eliminated the sale of our #1 best selling item: Water Bottles. We were one of the first campuses to do so.
2. Also in 2008, we eliminated trays in the COG in order reduce post consumer food waste and save water.
3. Every year we raise money and volunteer for 2nd Harvest through a variety of outlets including Helping Hands, a golf tournament and auction. Last year we donated over $15,000 to help fight hunger.
4. We work with Communities in Schools to help provide backpacks filled with food to help supply underprivileged elementary students with meals on the weekends.
5. We compost, donate what we can to Campus Kitchen and Recycle.
6. We use a program called LeanPath to help track our waste and raise awareness.
7. We won Recycler of the Year in conjunction with Gonzaga awarded by Washington State Recycler’s Association.
8. We have eliminated all Styrofoam on campus.
9. We offer cup discounts for using a reusable cup.
10. We always print on recyclable paper.
11. We recycle all of our fryer oil to turn it into bio diesel.

Here are a few things YOU can do to help fight hunger and waste-less:

1. Donate to our Helping Hands Campaign starting October 29th to benefit Second Harvest Inland Northwest.
2. Purchase items at our Retail Locations that give back to the Sodexo Foundation which mission is to fight hunger.
3. Take only what you can eat, you can always go back for more.
4. Ask for a sample before taking a whole plate.
5. Plan meals before you go shopping so you only buy what you need.
6. Use a reusable water bottle and/or coffee mug.
7. Use bulk condiments
8. Buy in bulk when possible
9. Bring a reusable bag to the store
10. Print double sided on recyclable paper

Tell us what you are doing today on twitter by using the hashtag #sustainabilitychallenge and you will instantly (@zagdining)!

Sustainability Challenge Day 1: Protect the Planet

Welcome to Day 1 of our Sustainability Challenge! Today’s goals are to Protect the Planet by reducing our carbon intensity and reducing our water usage. Don’t forget to pick up your challenge entry forms or print them off from this post to be entered to win prizes. First of all, here are some promotions we are running today in  honor of protecting our planet:

1. Meatless Monday in the COG (choosing meatless just one day a week reduces our carbon intensity)
2. Get a 12″ Veggie Sandwich at SubCo for the price of a 6″
3. Iggy’s Sustainable Pick Up Special-$5 for a cheese or pepperoni pizza

Here are a few things Zag Dining is doing to Protect the Planet:

• We have been trayless since 2008 which has save 1.25 million gallons of water and saved energy
• We use Energy Star Rated appliances
• We Compost our food scraps
• We donate our coffee grounds to gardens
• Thaw under refrigeration, not running water
• We use LeanPath (learn about it here)
• We use SMART tool to measure and track our energy and water usage.
• We use compostable to go serve-wear in our retail locations
• We utilize natural light
• We use Eco-Lab cleaning products
• A lot of our staff members ride their bike, take the bus or carpool to work

Here are some things YOU can do:

• Unplug any electronics that are not in use
• Walk, ride your bike or carpool to class
• Air dry clothes
• Turn your computer off at night
• Take a shorter shower and use less hot water
• Turn off the water when you brush your teeth
• Run only full loads of dishwashers and washing machines
• Scrape rather than rinse your dish
• Fill your water bottle only 1/2 full if you find yourself throwing water away at the end of the day
• Trade a burger or deli sandwich for a meatless selection.

These are just some suggestions. Take the challenge and tell us what YOU are doing to win prizes. Tweet us @zagdining with the hashtag #sustainabilitychallenge and tell us what you are doing to win instantly!

Sustainability Challenge is Coming! Participate & WIN!

On Monday, October 15th we are kicking off our Sustainability Challenge! We are challenging ourselves and YOU to be more sustainable. Each day we are focusing on two of our commitments and showing you what we are doing to make every day a better day. What we need YOU to do is challenge yourself! Pick up a challenge card from the cashiers at the COG or by printing the one in this post and write down each day what you are doing to support those commitments. At the end of the week, hand in your challenge cards to the COG cashiers and we will be giving away prizes like Discover, iTunes and Amazon.com gift cards!

Here are some of the promotions we are running during each day:

• Monday the 15th: Protect the Planet-Reduce Carbon Intensity & Water Waste

Meatless Monday in the COG

Get a 12″ Veggie Sandwich @ SubCo for the price of 6″

Iggy’s Sustainable Pick Up Special $5 for a Cheese or Pepperoni

• Tuesday 16th: Fight Waste/Hunger

COG samples of food to encourage people to try before they take something

99cent drip coffee at all retail locations when using a reusable mug

• Wednesday 17th: Sourcing Local & Sustainable

Shepherd’s Grain Cinnamon Rolls just .99cents in all of our locations

Buy a LoCro Shepherd’s Grain Soup bowls & receive a free local cravens coffee latte with flavor

Iggy’s Shepherd’s Grain Sustainable Pick Up Special $5 for a Cheese or Pepperoni

Farmer’s Market featuring Stewart from C&S Hydrohuts

• Thursday 18th: Community Day/Fair Trade

COG-sign up for 2nd Harvest & Food For Thought Volunteering

All drip Fair Trade Coffee (That Includes Jazzmans!) is 99cents

• Friday 19th: Nutrition

Use MyFitness Pal to track Sodexo recipes in the COG and Simply to Go

The COG will be serving all well balanced items

Purchase a Spikes Turkey Burger and receive a FREE reusable cup

Iggy’s Gluten Free Specialty Pick Up Price just $6 for cheese or pepperoni

Matt Rogers of KHQ Visits Our Hydroponic Garden!

Zag Dining’s photostream on Flickr.

Matt Rogers, reporter for Spokane’s NBC Affiliate KHQ, swung by bright…err…more like dark and early Tuesday morning to check in on our hydroponic garden. Matt chatted with Chuck Faulkinberry, our Resident District Manager, Dan Harris, our Resident Dining Director and Certified Executive Chef Thomas Morisette. Here are our photos (Check out Matt enjoying our famous homemade Shepherd’s Grain Cinnamon Rolls) and here is a link to the KHQ Newscast:  KHQ Video of Zag Dining’s Garden