Sustainable Food Choices

Catering is always one of the most important elements of an event, people may not remember the speakers or their presentations, but they’ll always remember the food and the drink!

Choosing a menu to suit everyone and within budget can be challenging; adding sustainability into the mix brings another layer of responsibility but it doesn’t have to be complicated and by making small changes, you can reduce the environmental impact of your event, relatively easily.  The catering teams at our venues would be happy to discuss your requirements and make suggestions to help you achieve your sustainability objectives.

Here are some tips to get you started with your planning.

How to Choose a Sustainable Menu for an Event

Choose dishes that would be suitable for most special diets. This removes the need to prepare and cook separate dishes for those with allergies and intolerances because if everyone can eat the same food, fewer ingredients will be required, which means less transport and ultimately a reduced carbon footprint.

Ask the venue to use local, seasonal ingredients. Challenge them to source ingredients from within a specified radius of the venue, to reduce transport.

Offer a variety of healthy, plant-based options – meat and dairy generally have a higher carbon footprint than vegetables, beans, pulses and grains.

Opt for menus with ingredients with higher environmental, social or animal welfare standards – products carrying the LEAF Marque, Fairtrade or organic certification are all great choices.