Campus Cafe Earns Green Restaurant Certification

For its focus on local foods, energy efficiency and limited waste, the NexDine Café in the Albert Sherman Center is now a certified Green Restaurant.

“We did this back in February, before the shut down, and it was a thorough process,” said Alan Rowe, resident district manager at NexDine, the school’s food service provider.

The certification comes from the Green Restaurant Association (www.dinegreen.com), an international nonprofit organization established in 1990 to encourage sustainable practices based on using “science-based certification standards.”

The Sherman Center café received a Level 1 Certification. The score card is online here: https://www.dinegreen.com/g/RES14972

While food service on campus is currently limit due to COVID-19 restrictions, Rowe looks ahead to a greener future, eventually resuming full operations with a focus on local foods and sustainable practices. “Before the pandemic, we had local cheeses, local honey, local meats from Lilac Farms, all grass-fed and raised in Harvard, loads of local produce. We always look to source as close to home as we can,” Rowe said. “We’re doing the best we can at this point, and I hope we will get back to where we were over time.”