UCD Sustainable Food Fest gives “practical takeaways” for eating more sustainably

_{Pictured: organisers, speakers and some participants at the UCD Sustainable Food Fest, including VP for Sustainability, Prof Tasman Crowe, Healthy Campus Coordinator Mags Carey and PhD student Patrick Elliott.  Picture credit: Morgan Clarkson}

What is a sustainable diet? How can we make food choices that lower our carbon footprint while maintaining balanced nutrition?

Yesterday the UCD Sustainable Food Fest explored these questions and more. 

"The focus of the event was to provide hands-on, interactive workshops in the area of sustainable nutrition, facilitated by (opens in a new window)Airfield Estate and the (opens in a new window)Rediscovery Centre,” said Healthy Campus Coordinator Mags Carey, adding that the event was a collaboration between UCD (opens in a new window)PLAN'EAT, Healthy UCD, UCD Sustainability and a number of UCD societies and organisations.  

“Participants had the opportunity to think about issues such as the impact of food miles and come up with real-life solutions including designing their own sustainable food city.”

Airfield Estate hosted a workshop on the impact of food choices on the environment and the Rediscovery Centre hosted another exploring greener, low carbon living. Barriers to sustainable eating were discussed and included cost, knowledge and convenience. 

“There were lots of practical take-aways on how to eat more sustainably, including shopping locally, reducing food waste and even growing your own, with participants receiving a goodie bag including seeds to get started on their growing journeys. The event was a great success, showcasing the breadth of initiatives taking place in UCD and was thoroughly enjoyed by all."

The aim of the Sustainable Food Fest was to promote health and sustainability and to encourage students to get involved with campus initiatives including the PLAN'EAT project. 

A PhD candidate in human nutrition, Patrick Elliott has been involved in recruiting students to the PLAN’EAT Living Lab, where they sign up for personalised feedback on their diets over a four-week period and get valuable advice on eating more sustainably going forward. 

“For me, the highlight of the event was witnessing so many student members of the UCD PLAN'EAT Living Lab engage with each other on issues related to food sustainability,” he said. “We look forward to continuing to uncover their insights and thoughts on sustainable food systems—with a particular focus on how we can harness them here in UCD. It was also great to see some new faces join us, many of whom were excited to join our Living Lab community.”

A Horizon European funded project running from 2022-2026, PLAN’EAT aims to understand how environmental, social, cultural and individual factors affect individuals’ food choices and to transform food systems and food environments towards healthy and sustainable dietary behaviours. Nine institutions across Europe collaborate on this Living Labs project.

Speaking at the event, UCD’s Vice President for Sustainability Professor Tasman Crowe said food and health are among the most universal and important aspects of sustainability. 

He added: “Food production, processing, packaging, transport, consumption and waste form a global network with a huge environmental footprint and either inadequate, unhealthy or excessive food is having a huge impact on people’s lives around the world.

 “There is great scope for innovation and improvement in both but the solutions need to be well thought through so that they can gain traction with enterprise, policymakers and the public.

“I’m delighted that UCD has such strength in this area, both through projects like PLAN’EAT and through initiatives like Healthy UCD and through its educational programmes and the interest and enthusiasm of students like you.”

Find out more at (opens in a new window)PLAN’EAT or on Instagram at (opens in a new window)@ucdplaneat and (opens in a new window)@healthyucd