This fall, Colby officially made the switch from Bon Appétit Management Company to Parkhurst Dining — a move hailed as a large step towards improved food quality. But, behind the marketing is one nagging question: what does the switch do for the environment and for Colby’s sustainability efforts?
Under Bon Appétit, Colby had a robust, data-based record of sustainable dining. The corporation sourced from over 100 local farmers under a “Maine First” policy that directed approximately 20% of the dining budget to local farms and food vendors. Trayless dining saved an estimated 79,000 gallons of water and reduced around 50 tons of food waste per year. Composting diverted more than 100 tons of food scraps per year away from the landfill. Bon Appétit also instituted quantifiable national programs such as “Farm to Fork,” which committed to sourcing 150 miles or less, and the “Low Carbon Diet” program aimed at lowering greenhouse-gas emissions of items, such as beef and cheese. These efforts placed the dining halls of Colby prominently in line with the College’s whole climate-action plan.
Parkhurst Dining, Colby’s new provider, has its own sustainability terminology, but it’s not quite as detailed. Projects like “FarmSource Partners” supposedly create direct connections with regional growers, and the “Know Your Source” campaign encourages consumers to learn where their food was grown. These programs are, however, described largely in qualitative rather than in measurable terms. While Bon Appétit regularly published sustainability reports with clear measures, Parkhurst’s data — the percentage of local purchasing or waste diversion for example — are vague or not publicly disclosed.
This lack of transparency does not let us know whether Colby’s dining sustainability increased or decreased. Sourcing locally, for instance, sounds environmentally conscious, but the impact is dependent on what “local” means. Bon Appétit used a 150-mile radius as a definite standard; Parkhurst has not published a comparable benchmark. Without those standards, “local” can easily extend to hundreds of miles for truck-delivered items, diminishing any benefits for emissions reduction. Similarly, Parkhurst’s waste-reduction and composting efforts appear to vary significantly from campus to campus. While many schools report harvesting several hundred pounds of compost per week, there is not a company-wide standard.
Such transitions also risk disrupting successfully operating systems. For example, Colby’s decades-old composting system, plus long-standing relationships between Maine farmers and dining providers, are threatened by this supplier change. Shifting suppliers requires rewriting contracts, retraining staff, and reshuffling supply chains — all of which temporarily slow progress. Small logistical missteps, like incomplete waste separation or losing local suppliers, can thwart sustainability gains.
To its credit, Parkhurst’s emphasis on education and transparency could be well-suited to Colby’s environmental mission — if it is followed through comprehensively and supported by metrics. Perhaps the most critical audience is students: dining hall habits, from food waste reduction and cutting back on plant-based meals, are top of the College’s emissions reduction. But if the College is to continue to be an environmental leader, the administration must be subject to the same level of accountability that defined the Bon Appétit decade.
Ultimately, the shift to Parkhurst Dining is a risk as well as an opportunity. The company’s promotion of local sourcing and fresh cooking is attractive, but unless it can keep pace with Bon Appétit’s history of concrete change, Colby’s sustainability goals are at risk. Real progress won’t be founded on glitzy buzzwords but on transparency — posting metrics, maintaining composting rates, and holding on to local partnerships. For a school that has long prioritized sustainability as a lasting value, the dining halls remain one of the most tangible gauges of whether or not that devotion can hold up to a change in taste.
~ Jane Kulevich `29
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