Sustainable food purchases and events

Safe, tasty and nutritious food

Catered or other purchased food at the University is to be tasty, nutritious and contribute to a varied diet. Any special dietary requirements are to be accommodated where possible. Certain allergens can cause serious reactions even in small quantities, e.g. peanuts. Such items should not be used at all. Information about the ingredients in the food served must be available. If allergens are used, legislation requires that they are clearly marked.

Vegetarian food

Catering

The default choice for food and fika should be vegetarian, and meat alternatives can be ordered specially. In exceptional cases, lunches and dinners including meat may be served, but the meat protein is to comprise a small part of the meal as a whole.

• Plant-based beverages must also be available as an alternative to cow’s milk.

Restaurants and cafés on campus

• A vegetarian option is to be included on the menu. The University wishes to see these dishes placed at the top of the menu or be clearly marked so that they are easy to find.
• Plant-based beverages should be offered as an alternative to cows’ milk.

Environmentally and seasonally appropriate food

Catering

• In the first instance, choose food marked with a green light in the WWF’s guides to sustainable food choices. They provide guidance on how conscious choices in the purchase of food can contribute to more sustainable agriculture and fishing with reduced environmental impact.

Read more on WWF’s website (in Swedish):

Vegoguiden (Veggie Guide)
Köttguiden (Meat guide)
Fiskguiden (Fish guide)

• To reduce food mileage, the recommendation is to choose locally produced ahead of imported organic or Fairtrade labelled products when possible.
• For foods containing meat, choose Swedish meat from organically reared and/or naturally grazed animals or Swedish game. If this is not possible, choose products containing Swedish meat rather than imported meat in order to minimise transport costs and so on.
• To reduce the use of resources, ingredients such as fruit and vegetables should be purchased when they are in season in Sweden and menus should be adapted accordingly.

Sustainability-labelled food

Catering and other purchases of food 

As far as possible, taking into account availability and price, choose products that are organic or Fairtrade-labelled.

• Coffee, tea, sugar, milk and juice are always to be organic or Fairtrade-labelled.
• Fruit is to be organic or Fairtrade-labelled. Exceptions can be made for locally produced fruit from Skåne such as apples, pears and plums, with the aim of reducing the climate impact of freight.
• Fish and shellfish are to be labelled with MSC, ASC or Svensk Sigill’s climate certification.
• When purchasing for staff kitchens, small staff events etc, hot chocolate, cocoa, dairy products, beer and wine are also to be organic or Fairtrade-labelled.

Restaurants and cafés on campus

• Strive to ensure that coffee, tea and bananas are Fairtrade-labelled or organic.
• Fish and shellfish are to be labelled with MSC, ASC or Svensk Sigill’s climate certification.
• As far as possible with regard to price and availability, efforts should be made to ensure that other types of food are Fairtrade or organic.

Transport

• Deliveries of food to the University should primarily use vehicles that are free from fossil fuels (green electricity, biogas and biodiesel-powered vehicles, bikes etc).
• Where possible, deliveries should be coordinated to obtain the most efficient transport possible to the university.

Cleaning 

• Chemicals such as cleaning products that are used in the University’s premises and in restaurants, cafés and by caterers are to be environmentally certified by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel or  Good Environmental Choice.

Food waste and recycling

• Food waste is to be minimised at every stage – in preparation, service and afterwards.
• Suppliers of catering, like restaurants and cafés on campus, are to sort and recycle and take care of waste according to the applicable rules and procedures in each building.
• The opportunity for guests to sort and recycle into at least the categories of food waste, paper waste and residual waste is to be provided.
• If returnable cans and bottles are used, these should be collected for recycling.
• If there is no recycling station in the venue that is sufficient, the organiser is to provide a mobile solution for the sorting and recycling of the types of waste (such as food waste, plastic/card packaging, residual waste etc) that are handled in the building’s waste facilities.

Single-use products 

• Avoid single-use products. Exceptions can be made where glasses, crockery and washing-up facilities are not available in the venue or if the event is so large that it becomes difficult to practically provide washing-up facilities in a sustainable way.
• If single-use materials must be used, choose the materials with the lowest possible environmental footprint, such as environmentally adapted paper or wood products instead of plastic or aluminium.
• Orders are to be deliverable in portion servings or on serving dishes. Individually wrapped food in plastic packaging should be avoided as far as possible. If plastic needs to be used to protect the goods in transit, the amount is to be minimised, and starch-based plastic used in the first instance.
• Serviettes are to be made of recycled paper have the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.
• Teabags should be compostable.
• Milk and the like for coffee and tea should not be individually packaged.
• Where possible, the beverage served should be tap water in a jug or similar. Water in bottles or cans should be avoided.