Food
WHAT WE ALREADY DO
Serve a meat and fish free menu for all crew and participants - a vegetarian and vegan menu.
All non-perishable items are purchased in bulk to reduce packaging.
Any foods wrapped in single use plastic is avoided if at all possible.
Food packaging is recycled.
Main meals are cooked in bulk from raw ingredients and either freshly prepared on site, or frozen in advance.
Support a local homeless charity with donations of surplus food throughout the year to minimise food waste.
When safe and appropriate, freeze food at the Ourea Events warehouse so that it can be re-used at a future event to reduce food waste.
Extend our meat and fish free policy to include all external caterers and traders who are supporting or attending our events.
Make locally sourced, organic, Fairtrade and ethical food purchasing decisions as far as economically possible.
Ensure that all external caterers and traders at our events agree to our sustainability and catering policy.
Reduce food waste whenever possible by only providing food that is ‘ordered’ at our events and, when catering is included with an entry, providing multiple smaller portions, rather than giant servings.
WHAT WE ARE PLEDGING TO DO
Analyse the carbon footprint of our main meals served at events
Negotiate more regular onsite deliveries with our wholesale supplier to reduce travel miles associated with the food provision
Above: Enjoying a delicious portion of cake at the 2019 SILVA Great Lakeland 3Day™ - we believe serving a meat and fish free menu is the cornerstone of reducing the environmental impact of our event catering ©Steve Ashworth
Sustainable food is a fundamental component of our new sustainability strategy. It affects everyone because our staff, volunteers and participants rely on the food we provide to fuel them through our events.
We have served a meat and fish free menu to participants since our first event in 2012. Over the years, we have worked hard to develop the menus we provide for our participants, to ensure the meals are nutritionally balanced for their needs. A meat and fish free menu is the cornerstone of reducing the environmental impact of our event catering, because livestock production takes up around 80% of the world’s agricultural land and is one of the leading causes of deforestation, biodiversity loss and water pollution. Our ‘Food Sustainability Policy’ covers this in more detail.
We recognise we can always make improvements and are now pledging to gain a better understanding of the supply chain, improve our food sourcing and work closely with our external caterers to be consistent in our own meat and fish free policy.
This section is dedicated to the actual food eaten and water drunk at our events, and how it is prepared. The Waste section focuses on the packaging and disposable serveware associated with catering.
We will set out standards when we procure specific ingredients and share these standards with our external caterers. These standards will include purchasing fairtrade tea and coffee, serving organic dairy products, purchasing ingredients locally where-ever possible and serving local beer!
Did you know?
This area of focus is part of our progression towards goal 6 of the Outdoor Friendly Pledge