Spent Orange Marmalade jar with a 'Spent Orange Marmalade' flyer and UWL fabric bag behind.
Spent Orange Marmalade jar with a 'Spent Orange Marmalade' flyer and UWL fabric bag behind.

Food Waste Action Week: Making food go further

Intro

UWL is proud to support Food Waste Action Week, from 6-12 March, a campaign bringing the nation together to save time and money by making food go further. This will ultimately reduce the impact of food waste on climate change.

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A male chef instructing a female student in Pillars Restaurant kitchen

Claire Willitts, Director of Property Services at UWL, said:

With cost-of-living pressures and people in real need, reducing food waste helps ensure supply can reach the most vulnerable. Food also has an extraordinarily high carbon footprint, so only using what you need is environmentally, as well as socially, the right thing to do.”  

One of UWL’s initiatives to become a net zero carbon institution by 2030 is to reduce food waste. The University has collaborated with its catering partner, Elior, to allow staff and students to purchase any surplus food at a discounted rate via the Too Good To Go app. Any excess food from the refectory at St Mary’s Road is listed on the app for people to purchase at a reduced price. 

Two students buying lunch together at the UWL campus in Ealing.

UWL also teaches its students about food waste. Students at the London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism (LGCHT) on the BSc Nutrition and Food Management, BSc Culinary Arts and BSc Future Food and Culinary Management courses attend classes on reducing food waste and undertake the Guardians of Grub course to give them the knowledge they need to reduce wastage, costs and carbon footprint in professional kitchens.   

Students are also taught cooking techniques to reduce food waste early, for example by upcycling or repurposing parts of food that we would normally discard.

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Nathan Vasanthan, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Food Business Management, said:

Often broccoli stalks are discarded as food waste. In fact, they can be peeled, sliced, cooked and can be a great vegetable option.

The same goes for leeks. Often, we use the white part and discard the green part. Instead, the green leaves can be used to make soups or added to dishes such as stir fries. Once we know how to cook sustainably, we can reduce how much we buy, which saves money as well as stopping edible food going to waste.”  

At UWL's West London Food Innovation Centre, New Product Development Chef Sebastian Stoklosa and his team are continually working on new formulations that incorporate ‘upcycled’ ingredients such as vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grinds, and eggshells into food products. They recently launched Spent Orange Marmalade, made with peel and pith from oranges squeezed for fresh juice.   

On Monday 6 March, LGCHT hosted a Future Plates and Future Chefs event at Pillars Restaurant introducing students and delegates to a range of sustainable food approaches including valuing natural resources and minimising food waste. 

West London Food Innovation Centre

The University of West London offers new product development and reformulation support to food and drink manufacturing start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Lab equipment at the University of West London's 'West London Food Innovation Laboratory'

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