St John’s College leads the way among its Oxbridge rivals in securing a Two Star Rating for its sustainable performance, as well as being the first University in the UK to be the subject of a case study for good practice.
Staff had to meet a broad range of criteria in order to be considered, including providing details and evidence of local procurement using sustainable suppliers, setting up and running in-house training programmes for staff and implementing a communication strategy across the College to keep everyone informed.
Bill Brogan, Catering and Conference Manager said: “This is a great team achievement. It took a great deal of time and effort to complete all the different stages involved, which makes the Award even more worthwhile. Meeting all the criteria meant going into huge detail on all our practices, including providing in-depth documentation as evidence.
“The audit highlighted a number of factors that were exceptionally good here including our relationships with very local suppliers to source food, staff welfare and the provision of uniforms.
“We are particularly pleased to be the first University in the UK to be the subject of a case study to demonstrate a model of good practice and to encourage other establishments to try themselves. This involved writing about the process of becoming more sustainable and what we have had to do to achieve this including looking at our cooking methods, visiting our suppliers and producing healthier food.”
The ‘Food Made Good’ team at St John’s included: Bill Brogan, Catering and Conference Manager; Jim Wocha, Wines and Provisions Manager; Ray Stevenson, Buttery Dining Room Manager; and Ean Hogg, Assistant Catering Manager.
On behalf of the College, Bill Brogan will be attending the Sustainable Restaurants Association’s ‘Food Made Good’ Awards in London in mid-March.
The team is now embarking on a new staff training programme, with the objective of achieving a Three Star Rating from the SRA.
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