Food aligned with our knowledge of our planet’s limits
Objectives and current situation
50% reduction of our CO2 emissions from catered food provided at meetings and events by 2022 compared with 2018
A vegetarian range is offered by default when catering for meetings and events. As a result, 83% of the catered food sold at such events was vegetarian and 6% was vegan in 2022. In 2019, 30% of these catered food products was vegetarian and 3% was vegan.
Reduce CO2 emissions from food sold in the canteen by 25% by 2026 compared with 2019
In 2019, CO2 emissions from food sold in the canteen amounted to 175 tonnes. The data will be updated when more information is known.
Our aim is to reduce food waste. We need to see a 25% reduction by 2026.
We expect that we have already made progress on this goal, as the caterer is paying much more attention to this based on the findings of students’ recent final projects, but up-to-date data on this is not available yet.
Status of envisaged measures
Read more about the measures in the White Paper on Sustainability (PDF, 19 pages).
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Reducing the share of meat and dairy products in lunches served
We aim to reduce the share of meat and dairy products so that the 50% CO2 emission reduction is achieved. Since 2019, vegetarian food is a standard option for these lunches. However, meat remains an option. In 2019, CO2 emissions from these type of catered products amounted to 75 tonnes. New data are expected to become available in 2023.
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Removing ruminant meat from the caterer’s product range
We aim to reduce the sale of all animal proteins. We have established that only a tiny fraction of the caterer’s product range contains ruminant meat. For this reason, no further action has yet been taken on this issue. The data will be analysed again in 2023. To gain insight into the effect of other interventions, the product range was analysed in 2022. In addition, a pilot was conducted at three UvA locations where 80% of the range was vegetarian and vegan to examine the impact of an expanded vegetarian and vegan range.
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Study into the environmental impact of food provided through banqueting and sold in canteens
This study will be conducted in 2022-2023.
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Reducing sales of animal protein products from vending machines
In 2022, 52% of sales from vending machines were vegetarian, 48% was vegan, and products containing meat, such as sandwiches with sliced meat, accounted for 0.5% of these sales.
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Thesis researching level of waste
Has been completed. Suggested measures have not yet been tested in practice due to COVID-19 restrictions. To be continued in 2022/2023. The research focuses on food waste generated in the process and how this can be reduced.
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Nudging to encourage consumption of plant-based food
Several pilots have been launched where nudging is an element (2022).
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Discontinuing sales of non-carbonated water in single-use containers
Sales of non-carbonated water in single-use containers as part of catering and banqueting and from beverage vending machines were discontinued in September 2021, and we have significantly increased the number of tap water fountains in our buildings.
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Vegan milk in coffee vending machines
A pilot was conducted with offering vegan milk in coffee vending machines. Based on that pilot, vegan milk is now offered in several coffee vending machines in UvA buildings.