Indiana University Bloomington officials are hoping to make dining in the Indiana Memorial Union more sustainable.
IU Dining launched at the beginning of May and took over all residential and union dining. The IMU has already switched out some of its former restaurants including Baja Fresh, which is now the Crimson Grill, and Pizza Hut, which is now called B-town Pasta & Pizza. But the union will see more significant renovations to its dining facilities over the next couple of years.
Rahul Shrivastav, the executive director of IU Dining, says the organization is working with the union board to change concepts that have been in place since the 90s, including sustainability.
"Plastic straws, plates, every item will be compostable," Shrivastav says. "And we're working towards making our whole dining program, IU Dining, which is in all the residence halls, academic cafes, etc., to go to this compostable plan."
Shrivastav says the group is working with local food sources and aims to provide more transparency so consumers know what they're eating.
The IMU renovations haven't started yet, but Shrivastav says they will occur in phases.