The University of Kent recognises its responsibility to carry out its procurement activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, and the considerable influence we have in using our buying power to encourage healthy and sustainable food production and consumption. With this in mind, the University launches its first sustainable food strategy on 1 October 2018.

The strategy is a road map for increasing the sustainability of our food offering from field to fork and beyond, and has been co-written by Kent Hospitality, Kent Sport, The Gulbenkian and the Estates Department, along with the Kent Union Environment Officer and student and staff reps. The strategy supports the University’s aim to embed the Sustainable Development Goals into our operations.

Highlights include:

• Reducing overall meat consumption across our campuses and improving the welfare standard of the meat we serve
• Reducing the miles our fruit and veg travels and increasing the seasonality of our menus
• Incorporating food grown on campus into our menus
• Carrying out a full review of the amount of single-use disposables we get through
• Pursuing options for food composting

Read the full strategy and find out more about sustainable food at the Sustainability web pages or email sustainability@kent.ac.uk.