Sustainable food

We’re committed to offering healthy, affordable and sustainable food across our outlets and services.

Key commitments 

We offer food that is produced, processed and traded in ways that:

  • contribute to the local economy and promote sustainable livelihoods;
  • avoid damaging our planet;
  • enhance animal welfare;
  • provide social benefits.

We achieved Fairtrade University status, with a one star award. 

Find out more about our University's Fairtrade status

Sustainable food initiatives 

We have implemented initiatives over recent years to deliver environmentally sustainable food services at the University. These include:

  • Plastic-free sandwich packaging.
  • Using local suppliers where possible. 
  • Fairtrade coffee, tea and hot chocolate (our coffee is roasted in Sheffield).
  • Healthy food choices at our outlets, including vegetarian and vegan options. 
  • Meat-free Mondays (Food in Residence). 
  • Free range eggs (Food in Residence). 
  • Farm assured chicken.
  • Marine Conservation Society-approved fish. 
  • Carbon labelling on menus in collaboration with Klimato. 
  • Free tap water made available from all catering outlets and water dispensers across campus. 
  • Hosting an annual event as part of Fairtrade Fortnight for suppliers including One Water, Manchester Veg People and Tony's Chocolonely. 
  • Providing takeaway boxes in Food in Residence and for hospitality on campus to reduce food waste. 
  • Creating a community fridge to help those in need. 

We also have a sustainable food policy (PDF, 538KB) in place for all our catering and retail outlets.

Food waste initiatives 

Food growing projects 

We have a number of food growing projects in place to engage colleagues and students across campus.