New award win sees Queen Mary, University of London, achieve its goal to become sustainable
November 2009
Queen Mary, University of London, London's only self-contained academic venue, has been awarded a "Good Food on the Public Plate" award for its ecological and ethical efforts towards creating a sustainable campus. The awards took place on 16th November at City Hall, and were presented by Rosie Boycott, Chair of the Mayor's London Food Board.
Queen Mary gained the award by introducing a number of solutions they felt would benefit the environment and the campus. The first step was to replace the diesel campus delivery van, which distributes catering supplies to all the College sites, with an electric model. The College then set up a recycling and composting system for kitchen waste and also discontinued the use of bottled water in events and conferencing, introducing readily available filtered water and re-useable bottles instead.
Rosie Boycott said: "Queen Mary, University of London, should be congratulated."
She continued: "The winners of the Good Food on the Public Plate awards show that public sector food can be delicious, healthy and good for the planet. Crucially taking these steps with creativity means good food need not cost the earth at a time when budgets are under increasing pressure. These food champions provide a great example that other organisations should follow."
Kena Duignan, Project Officer for Good Food on the Public Plate said: "Working closely with the College we have managed to help facilitate several changes that have not only gained them this award, but have opened their eyes to the benefits of becoming ecologically and ethically responsible which sets them apart from many other academic venues."
Michele Washington, Head of Catering & Conferencing Services for Queen Mary, University of London said: "We felt that we had the possibility to make a real difference at the College. These are the first moves to becoming as sustainable as possible and to maintain these choices in a way that achieves environmental, social and economic stability for the College."
The "Good Food on the Public Plate" project is coordinated by Sustain: An alliance for better food and farming to provide a wide range of free of charge assistance to public sector bodies in London. Their aims include increasing the use of local and seasonal produce, food from farms that minimize harm to the environment, and sustainable fish; and avoiding bottled water and promoting healthy nutritious food.
Queen Mary, University of London, is based in Zone 2, and offers versatility, history, location and value for money. The venue has become first choice for London businesses and offers a range of venues to suit all hospitality needs, catering for groups of 20 to 800 people. It is also the closet academic venue to the 2012 Olympics.
