Feeding People, Not Landfills: Creative Dining Services Reimagines Institutional Food Service
July 22, 2025
The food service industry has a waste problem. 13.9 percent of Michigan’s food waste came from the sector in 2021. Businesses and organizations providing food for students, workers, and customers also struggle with an immense amount of plastic pollution from excess packaging. This waste builds up in the states’ landfills, generating methane and other harmful emissions that contribute to the climate crisis and worsen air quality.
As consumers advocate for more environmentally friendly dining experiences, one Zeeland-based hospitality management firm is helping its clients cut down on waste and create value for community organizations: Creative Dining Services (CDS) works with schools, universities, corporate campuses, and other institutions to provide sustainable food service solutions, from the farm to after the meal.
Custom Sustainability Solutions for Every Food Service Operation
CDS subscribes to a triple bottom line philosophy: commitment to environmental sustainability and social responsibility as well as economic success. This means tailoring sustainability efforts to their clients’ unique needs.
“We say we’re all in, whatever you need from us,” says Janine Oberstadt, Vice President of Operations and Corporate Sustainability. “We don’t have a one size fits all [approach to sustainability].”
Examples of CDS’ collaborative approach to sustainability with their clients include:
- Helping a corporate client achieve their WELL Building Standard Certification, which includes rigorous guidelines regarding the availability of fresh produce, limits on highly processed ingredients, sourcing responsibly-produced food, and other considerations.
- Contributing to three college campus carbon emissions audits, as well as guiding students on how to reduce packaging and food waste and donate unused food to community organizations.
- Finding solutions to restrictions on leftover food donations – 54 percent of CDS accounts donate unused food at least once a week, while following food safety protocols.
“[Sustainability] is absolutely instrumental to our clients so therefore it’s very important to us,” Oberstadt says.
Redefining Value in Institutional Food Sourcing
CDS’s FARMSTEAD™ program works with 64 farms and food hubs to form direct-to-farm relationships with their clients.
“We’re engaged with several growers that would not normally have a pipeline to market,” Oberstadt says. “I’m talking about farmers of color who are maybe only farming an acre, an acre and a half.”
For certain products, Creative Dining Services doesn’t negotiate price, instead allowing the farmer to name a price that works for both parties. Slightly more expensive produce often has a host of benefits the cheapest option simply can’t offer.
“At 14 cents a pound differential, it’ll be 10 times sweeter and in cool colors and you get to tell the story about how this is from down the road,” Oberstadt says.
Prioritizing their commitments to the environment and the people CDS serves isn’t an economic liability – it’s the way to stand out in an industry largely complacent with significant waste and full of much larger players. Creative Dining Services nimbleness and sustainability expertise makes them an asset to their clients.