Sustainable food

BU's catering partner Chartwells has achieved the Sustainable Restaurant Association certification three star rating in 2026. They are following sustainable food practices as part of their contract with BU:

• Use locally sourced produce through local suppliers where possible to include fruit and veg and bakery products
• Ensure that menus change with the availability of seasonal produce, with at least two major items per dish served in the season in which they are naturally abundant
• Ensure that all eggs are purchased are from a free-range production system
• Ensure that no fish is served that appears on the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) 'red list' and seek to serve MCS-certified fish, maximising the use of fish from the MCS 'fish to eat' list
• Use only 100% Red Tractor Assured meat
• Follow SCAW Approach to animal welfare.

Chartwells coffee beans are either Fairtrade, Bad Hand Coffee or Rainforest Alliance, and serve Fairtrade Clipper Tea and Dorset Tea. SUBU offer Fairtrade coffee in Dylan’s Kitchen & Bar and their Ground Up Café.

We are proud, along with the Students' Union (SUBU), to have achieved the maximum 3-star rating within the Fairtrade Foundation/NUS Fairtrade University and College award 2026.

Fairtrade is a global movement and certification system that strives to make trade fairer for producers in developing countries. It is all about working towards social, environmental and economic justice. Find out more more about the Fairtrade Foundation.

We support this mission at BU by making Fairtrade products available to purchase across our campuses where possible, and promoting the inclusion of Fairtrade into our procurement processes. We also recognise the opportunity we have as university to educate our students, staff and the wider BU community about global justice, and to empower them to develop positive purchasing habits. We do this by co-ordinating a series of Fairtrade events and campaigns throughout the year, and working with our academic staff to embed Fairtrade and ethical consumption into our research and curriculum. The BU Fairtrade Steering Group is responsible for overseeing this activity and implementing our Fairtrade Policy, which can be found on our People & Policies page.

You can read more about how we support Fairtrade at BU across these key themes in our Fairtrade Report 2024-26 (pdf 2.72mb). You can also read our most recent version of the Fairtrade SMART Action Plan (.xlsx 56kb), and explore the results of our BU Fairtrade Survey 2025-26 (.xlsx 18.57kb).

How can you get involved with Fairtrade at BU?

• Join the Fairtrade Steering Group. We need Student Fairtrade Representatives to bring the student voice to our steering group and help us to drive the mission of Fairtrade at BU

• Explore Fairtrade as part of your assignment. There are so many ways to explore the topic of ethical consumption through your course, regardless of what you study. For example, some of our MSc Events management students have previously hosted a ‘Fairtrade around the world’ event which aimed to promote the importance of Fairtrade, how it benefits the growers and also how easy it is to buy Fairtrade products. We also have access to our Fairtrade sales data at BU, which you can use

• Become a Fairtrade Student Auditor. The Fairtrade University re-certification process involves our own students working with the Fairtrade Foundation to audit our submission. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn how to audit an organisation, and develop a broad range of skills that will enhance your employability. Register to be a Fairtrade Student Auditor on the SUBU Volunteering page

• Enjoy a nice cup of Fairtrade Tea! Look out for upcoming ‘Tea Thursdays’ events on the SUBU What’s On page. Whether you come alone or bring a friend, you’ll find a warm environment where you can recharge and take a mindful pause in the middle of your week

• Attend Fairtrade themed events. These could include chocolate tasting sessions, films screenings or Social Kitchen sessions where you will learn to cook a meal with Fairtrade ingredients. Stay up to date by keeping an eye on the SUBU What’s On page and the Bournemouth Uni Food Instagram page

• Join BU’s Sustainability Academic Network. Network with academic staff from across BU to share best practice on how to embed Fairtrade, the climate crisis, and other sustainability topics into your research and teaching

• Partner with us. If you're a local school, college, or business interested in support from Bournemouth University to explore or achieve Fairtrade accreditation, email: [email protected]

Keen to get involved or have any general questions? Our Sustainability mailbox: [email protected] is the best way to get in touch.
 

We work to minimise food waste throughout our operations. Our bins have separate sections for collecting food waste, which is then sent for anaerobic digestion to create energy and a soil improver called digestate.

Our catering contractor, Chartwells, use an electronic food waste system called the Winnow to weigh food waste during food preparation. This helps keep track of kitchen waste and adjust kitchen processes, reducing waste at the source. Unsold food is redistributed through the ‘Too Good To Go’ app, donated to the SUBU Community Kitchen, or shared with the local night shelter. Some of the catering food waste from the Fusion Building is also processed using our on-site composter on Talbot Campus, reducing transport emissions and producing compost for the SUBU Community Garden. Remaining kitchen food waste is sent for recycling by anaerobic digestion along with all other campus food waste. 

Each year, we celebrate Stop Food Waste Day in April to raise awareness of this global issue. You can find helpful top tips and recipes for how to reduce food waste on the Stop Food Waste Day website.

We are working hard to eliminate disposable coffee cups and, since 2020, we charge a disposable coffee cup tax of 30p across all outlets to encourage the use of reusable or returnable mugs. In 2023 we launched our innovative ‘Cup Exchange Scheme’, which offers a convenient alternative to a disposable cup. As of 2026, the percentage of drinks being sold in a sustainable cup option fluctuates between 30-50%, depending on the month (this refers to drinks being sold in either crockery, a reusable cup, or one of our Cup Exchange cups).

Cup Exchange Scheme

Helps us to reduce the number of takeaway cups used on-campus. What’s more, you’ll receive loyalty stamps each time you use Chartwells’ crockery, a resusable cup or take part in the Cup Exchange Scheme.

How does it work?

Join the Cup Exchange Scheme for a one-off cost of £3.95

Option 1: Keep your cup for as long as you like
Option 2: Return your cup to any Chartwells Café and pick up a clean one 
Option 3: Return your cup to any Chartwells Café and get a token for a new cup on your next visit

Each cup is professionally cleaned before it is used again.

No refund applies.

This is part of our focus on reducing single-use plastic. The Chartwells team have removed 10 key single-use plastic items including sauce packets, stirrers and takeaway containers from our catering operations. Takeaway boxes for salads are now only available on request in our Fusion building encouraging you to use crockery instead. 

We are proud to have joined the Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community project. We have worked with our suppliers to ensure that where palm oil is present in our on-site food, it will be sourced from accredited sustainable sources. This process is facilitated through annual supplier audits. By doing so, we know that we are helping to protect wildlife around the world from the impact of unsustainable agricultural practices.

Read more about the Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community.

BU actively works to support staff and students leading sustainable food projects by providing growing spaces on campus. You can get involved through a variety of opportunities:

• BU Students' Union (SUBU) have developed a new Community Garden on our Talbot Campus for inspiring and educating students, staff and the local community on the topic of food growing. All produce grown in the garden will be used to supply the SUBU Community Kitchen. Drop-in volunteering sessions are available for anyone in the community to gain some experience and help to maintain the garden. Read more about how to get involved on the SUBU website
• Chartwells have used the planters of our Fusion Building terrace to grow herbs and vegetables using or own homemade compost. All the produce is used as ingredients in recipes sold in our catering outlets. This is a fantastic circular example of turning waste into a resource and growing food locally. Find out more here
• We have a polytunnel on Talbot Campus which student and staff can use to grow food and plants. The Sanctuary - Heritage, Craft and Wellbeing hub at BU currently makes use of the polytunnel to grow and store resources used in outdoor skills and craft sessions, including flax harvesting, ancient drying, and stone carving. Read more about The Sanctuary here. 
• School of Life & Environmental Sciences host a growing space outside of Christchurch House on Talbot Campus for staff and students to tend to

• ResLife have created community growing spaces in many of its halls of residence to support sustainable food, community action and student wellbeing. Read more about ResLife.

  With the support of the University, groups of students and staff have also found creative ways of working within the confines of the University's city-based sites to create small food growing spaces including herb gardens and fruit tree areas. You can read more about our biodiversity work on our Sustainable Campuses page and get in touch with us at [email protected] about an opportunity.

  Did you know you can grow many fruit and vegetables from leftover scraps, like carrot tops and pineapple heads? Fill your windowsill at home with homegrown vegetables using some tips from the Food Revolution Network!.

Sustainable food is a fantastic area to form a Living Lab project around. From calculating the carbon emissions of our menus to running a campaign, there is a lot of work we are in the process of, and we'd love to have you join in!

We've already had some excellent student projects take place at BU. For example, in support of the global campaign ‘World Pulses Day’, students studying MSc Nutrition & Behaviour, BSc Nutrition and BSc Psychology joined forces with academics with expertise in psychology, nutrition and consumer behaviour, the Sustainability Team, and our catering provider Chartwells to run BU’s first ever ‘Bean Week’ to promote the nutritional and environmental benefits of eating beans. 

Throughout the week, the students handed out free samples of bean dishes for our students and staff to try while running a social media campaign highlighting students’ favourite bean dishes from across the world. The Bean Week also featured a special bean menu in our main catering outlet, which provided an opportunity to conduct research into eating behaviours.

If you are interested in completing a project that helps to improving the sustainability of our food on campus, contact [email protected] 

Enriching society is a core aim of life at BU, and that counts for work with food too! BU staff and students have got involved in a variety of projects, including:

• Supporting Bournemouth and Poole to achieve Fairtrade Town status
• FoodMAPP, which is a European research project that will enable consumers to find and buy local food supplies, reducing waste and supporting sustainable purchases
• Supporting community-based food partnerships such as the Slades Farm community project
• The Nutrition Advisory Team, founded by BU graduate Claire King, and the development of a Nutri-kit to help young people take greater responsibility for their own health
• The university have provided a polytunnel on campus for our student societies to grow food and donated equipment to support growing activities
• We have planters on Talbot Campus filled with herbs which staff and students can harvest. Located behind the Student Centre
• Our catering company provides free cooking lessons for students which you can sign up to by downloading their Uni Food app.

Located on the second floor in SUBU, our Community Kitchen is open to all students and staff at BU to use throughout the year. Its main purpose is to help those who are facing difficulties during the cost-of-living crisis and are unable to afford daily essentials such as food or sanitary products. It also is a great place to go and meet people, heat up food, look through recipe books, and eat as a group.

BU students have undertaken research and found that not everyone is aware that sustainable diets are about helping the planet.

They concluded that "we need to promote greater awareness and knowledge of how changes to eating habits can go some way to helping the planet, while also offering some suggested changes that are likely to be acceptable and acted upon". For this study, researchers interviewed twenty-one mostly young adults from a range of households and with different cooking responsibilities - from cooking for everyone in the house to living with others who do all the cooking for them. The findings, published in the journal Appetite, found that many participants did not know or were very unsure of what a sustainable diet was, with some not considering the environment or the planet at all. There was particular interest in making small and easy changes - for example, eating less meat but not cutting it out completely and being prepared to pay a little bit more for it, but not significantly more.

Read more about how sustainable diets can help the planet.

Bournemouth University, with our catering partner Chartwells, have retained our 3-star rating in the Sustainable Restaurant Association Food Made Good Sustainability standard – the highest possible rating.

The SRA works to accelerate change towards a global hospitality sector that is socially progressive and environmentally restorative, through the only worldwide sustainability accreditation tailored for the sector: the Food Made Good Standard.

Built on a 10-point framework that allows for a complete 360-degree assessment of operations, Food Made Good takes a holistic approach to sustainability, evaluating impact across pillars of Sourcing, Society and Environment.

Sourcing – From local and seasonal ingredients, to sourcing meat and fish responsibly and supporting global farmers (77% - an increase from 69% in 2023).

Society – Demonstrating responsible behaviours, such as treating staff fairly, supporting the community and feeding people well (86% - an increase from 82% in 2023)

Environment – Valuing natural resources, waste no food and making every effort to reduce, reuse and recycle (91.1% - an increase from 91.1% in 2023)

We achieved a score of 84.9% overall, which an increase from 79% in 2023. We look forward to making further improvements as we progress our sustainability journey as part of BU's certified EcoCampus Environmental and Energy Management System.

We offer opportunities for students to gain placements as food ambassadors working with our catering partner Chartwells. 

If you are interested in becoming a food ambassador look out for volunteering opportunities on the SUBU volunteering page or email [email protected]. 

We have partnered with City to Sea to become the first University to be a 'Refill Campus'. This is part of our commitment to reduce single use plastic. To mark the launch we have branded 45 of our free water refill stations with brightly coloured signage to help students and staff find their nearest water refill station. 

Find out more about our 'Refill Campus' status. 

Lois Betts, Head of Sustainability and Workplace, said: 

“Reducing disposable plastic waste is our Eco Campus goal and by becoming a Refill Campus with City to Sea we hope to encourage students and staff to refill their water bottles across campus and play their part in reducing our environmental impact”. 

As of September 2024, there will be no additional charge for choosing plant-based milks on our campuses. Plant-based milks are associated with a lower environmental footprint than dairy milk, from lower carbon emissions to less freshwater and land use. Read more about the environmental impact of different milk options. We hope this change on our campus will encourage our staff and students to make more sustainable choices.

Revd Ruth Wells, senior chaplain for BU/AUB, Destinee Cushnie Mason, MSc in Nutrition and Behaviour graduate, and Claire King, MSc in Nutrition and Behaviour graduate and founder of The Nutrition Advisory Team have collaborated to create 'Nourish & Connect: Recipes for Healthy, Budget-Friendly Eating'. Read this online booklet for inspiration and guidance on producing healthy, affordable, and sustainable meals.

Sustainability Screenings is a BU initiative designed to educate and inspire BU students, staff, and the local community about contemporary sustainability challenges through film. On Wednesday 27 November 2024, we launched this with a screening of Six Inches of Soil. This inspiring film explored the potential of regenerative agriculture, and tells the story of three new British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food.

Following the film screening, we held a panel discussion with some inspiring and influential people in this area, including:

Claire Mackenzie – Producer of the film Six Inches of Soil
Michael French – Founder of the Grounded Community charity in Boscombe
Clyde Jones – Advisor at the Soil Association
George Holmes – Director of Arla

Did you know the food we eat is linked to 1/3 of all carbon emissions in the world? 

Chartwells have introduced a new Carbon Labelling system for a selection of the food provided on our campsues to enable everyone at BU to make more informed choices about the food they consume.

This system uses Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) data to analyse various stages of food production, from the farm stage up to the retail stage (including any processing, packaging, and transport in-between), to provide comprehensive insights into each ingredient’s environmental impact.

You’ll see labels ranging from A to E alongside items on our menus, each accompanied by a traffic light colour system for easy identification. An 'A' rating indicates a low carbon rating, while an 'E' indicates a higher carbon intensity. These ratings are aligned with the global carbon budget set by the EAT-Lancet Commission.

Our Procurement Team work closely with suppliers to ensure they meet strict criteria regarding the environment and the treatment of their workers as part of the tender process. We ask questions of our potential suppliers to help us choose the most environmentally friendly suppliers and take a life cycle approach wherever we can. Watch this video to find out more about the circular economy which we promote to our suppliers.

We have published a statement to show how BU and our main suppliers meet the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. You can also read more about our ethical investment policy on our People and Policies page. 

This work is led by our Sustainability Committee. If you have any questions, then do contact us at [email protected].

Chartwells host the Social Kitchen - a free cookery lesson by chef John, where students had the chance to learn some helpful cookery tips, how to cook on a budget, meet other students, and of course eat some delicious food! In addition, the Social Kitchen events help to stimulate though and discussion around sustainable food consumption through choosing plant-based meals and local ingredients to use within the sessions. 

The Social Kitchen runs multiple times a term, so get in touch with the BU Sustainability Team by emailing [email protected] if you're interested!