SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

University catering team shortlisted for national sustainability award

Posted 1 July

A commitment to sustainability with a willingness to ‘practice what we teach’ has seen SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½’s Catering Team shortlisted for a national award.

The team are among the finalists in the Sustainability Award at the later this month.

TUCO is the leading professional membership body for in-house caterers operating in the higher, further education and public sector and its awards recognise and celebrate teams working in institutions across the country.

SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Catering Manager David Nuttall said: “The nomination is a huge honour - and recognition for the whole Harper team in their efforts to utilise produce off our on-site farm and drive down waste.”

The University team has adopted a holistic approach to its catering. It draws on as much of the on-site Harper Adams Future Farm’s produce as possible to feed students, staff and conference and short course guests across the whole year – putting these fantastic ingredients at the heart of more than 2,000 meals a day.

Berries, butchery and bees have all played their part in providing delicious meals on the Harper Adams campus over the past year.

More than 200 kilos of strawberries grown on site were used in dishes – with 22 punnets per week consumed while in season.

The University’s full-time butcher uses a range of meat produced on the Future Farm, with eleven tonnes of pork, two and a half tonnes of lamb, and seven and a half tonnes of beef turned into a wide variety of meals.

Alongside everyday products such as sausages and bacon – the catering team have also used the farm’s produce to create cured meats such as pastrami and bresola.

The establishment of the University’s on-site apiary meant the honey its bees produce has been used in a series of dishes, including – fittingly – those served at the British Beekeepers’ Association Spring Convention. With the hives, established in 2024, now expected to offer a 100 per cent increase in honey, plans are in place to extend its use across the catering operation over the next twelve months.

Another development coming to fruition is the University’s vineyard – expected to bear a harvest which can produce wine later this year from a specially-selected range of cold climate varieties.

A further focus on reducing food waste has seen an on-site Community Fridge save more than 1.5 tonnes of food from going to waste each month since its introduction in January 2024. With around 40 staff and students volunteering on the project, more than 1100 people have used the fridge - and 52,000 meals have been redistributed.

Winners of the TUCO awards will be announced at a gala dinner on July 23.

David added: “To win would be wonderful!

“It would give everyone involved inspiration and motivation to strive further in the pursuit of all things food related at Harper - and shout louder about practicing what we teach.”