The food system as we know it is broken (Lang, 2020; Hawkes, 2018; Nestle 2020; Clapp 2020), it accounts for 25-33% of the world’s global carbon footprint (Poore & Nemechek, 2019; Crippa, 2021) the agricultural industry has one of the highest rates of modern-slavery (ILO, 2022) and food packaging is the world’s largest source of plastic pollution (OECD, 2022).
At Gather & Gather we take sustainability seriously and have worked hard to introduce a holistic approach to the food & drink we serve at Oxford Brookes University encompassing strategies to reduce our environmental, social, and economic impacts.
Read on to discover how we are reducing our impacts and innovating to create a future-focussed food offer on campus.
Oxford Brookes was the first ever Fairtrade University and we are incredibly proud to continue to support this course and champion Fairtrade products on campus. All coffee served in our outlets as well as hot chocolate, tea sugar and bananas are Fairtrade.
Eggs – All eggs are free-range and locally sourced
We are dedicated to reducing the carbon footprint of the food we serve on campus. Over a third of carbon emission are linked to food, be that production, storage or waste. We therefore track report and reduce the amount of carbon linked to the food offer at Oxford Brookes.
Wasted food is an ethical and environmental catastrophe. The equivalent of 8 meals a week is binned in every home in the UK. We are dedicated to reducing the amount of preventable food waste through targeted food waste tracking and reduction.
Food Made Good
We undertake the Sustainable Restaurant Association audit in order to achieve our Food Made Good Sustainability Rating. We have achieved three stars from the Sustainable Restaurant Association and achieved our Food Made Good rating. This is the Gold-Standard certification within the hospitatlity industry and stree stars is their highest award. This is a holistic award that includes sourcing, animal welfare and staff training.
Reporting
We champion ingredients that lead to a more biodiverse world. The more diverse our diets the better it is for our guts and our planet. We therefore include a Future 50 ingredient in each menu. These ingredients have been researched by the WWF for healthier people and a healthier planet.
These are 50 ingredients identified by WWF as being better for people and planet promoting sustainable diets. Keep a look out for signage in the refectories to highlight when a dish contains a Future 50 ingredient.
Live Well recipes must meet a specific set of nutrition and ingredient principles, based on scientific nutrition research. This means that all our recipes are developed to a high standard, and our customers can be confident they are eating a well-balanced meal/ The aim is to help our customers eat more fruit and vegetables, more wholegrains and more healthy fats.
Look out for our Live Well stickers to help you find our favourites across all locations!
At G&G, we take the sustainability of the food and drinks we offer very seriously, so seriously in fact that we have a dedicated sustainability manager at OBU, Charlotte.
Charlotte oversees our food and drink offering ensuring that we meet the standards set out in OBU’s Sustainable Food Policy . We strive for excellence, and continuously innovate to reduce our impact.
You can email Charlotte with any queries.
