CamEATS ZERO: Sustainable Food Initiative

CamEATS ZERO encourages the University’s 31 Colleges to implement strategies that target environmental sustainability, including increasing plant-based meals to at least 50%, phasing out ruminant meats, serving only sustainably sourced seafood, and halving food waste. This project aims to assess the effectiveness of one of the four actions of CamEATS ZERO, a sustainable food initiative launched in February 2024 at the University of Cambridge. This specific action focuses on reducing the purchase of ruminant meats (beef, lamb, venison) and associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe).

The evaluation is a longitudinal observational study, examining six key measures to determine the effectiveness of the initiative: the proportion of ruminant meat purchased relative to all meat, the total mass of ruminant meat purchased, the mass of all food purchased, GHGe related to meat purchases, GHGe specifically from ruminant meat, and overall GHGe from food purchases.

The findings from this evaluation will contribute to developing sustainable food policies in higher education. They could provide a model for similar institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and care homes, seeking to reduce their environmental impact through food system changes.