University of Tasmania
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

All University's café operators were asked to provide information on expenditure per food type and to identify any sustainable or ethically produced food. The inventory provided was reviewed and refined by the University's Sustainability Team to ensure relevance of products. Other minor food and beverage providers are not included because of the difficulty of obtaining data (e.g., food vans for events). Data provided is for 2021 calendar year

The University of Tasmania started transitioning to a principles based catering model in mid-2021. This move supports the University’s strategic objective of being a placed-based institution, and where sustainability is core to service offerings as well as providing opportunities for local providers and suppliers to engage with the University at the local level which will help to embed the University’s placed-based model across Tasmania.
The food strategy is underpinned by a food charter that has been developed by one of the technical working groups in close consultation (co-designed) with students, staff and the community. The key focus of the charter is that the on campus offerings be:
1) Sustainable Food – food on-campus does not compromise the environmental, health, economic and social wellbeing of present and future generations. We define sustainable food as “food that is healthy and produced in a humane, environmentally-friendly, socially responsible and economically fair way”
2) Healthy Food – enables people the thrive by making healthy choices easy choices. In Tasmania we know that we have some of the worst health statistics in the nation. We also know that Tasmanian children and adults do not eat enough vegetables which can offer protection from chronic conditions such as diabetes (stats are 90% of Tasmanian do not eat enough veg ref Eat Well Tas). We need to green-up our on campus menus not only for our health but for our planet as well.
3) Fair food – all people have access to and the means to choose and obtain safe, healthy, local and culturally acceptable food on-campuses. We know that from the March 2020 survey that 38% of UTAS students had experienced food insecurity, which is much higher than the Tasmanian population. We also know that 50% of students perceived that food on campus was unaffordable and they preferred to eat locally grown food if possible.
4) Local Food – food on campus is produced and harvested in Tasmania supporting local farmers and suppliers. Evidence indicates our students aspire to grow, cook and eat their own food which is where a campus community garden / urban agriculture strategy is critical. We also know that supporting local food procurement creates jobs, it has the multiplier effect where 50% of money spent in local business is retained in the local economy, farm viability and indirectly health (Rose, 2014)
5) Informed Food – co-designed with students and staff combining research and education

There are currently eight food outlets across all Tasmanian campuses.