At Coventry University we believe that the food we supply should be delicious and high quality with sustainability at the heart of every meal we serve.
We work in partnership with the catering providers at all our locations to enhance sustainability throughout the whole life cycle of the catering services we provide; from sourcing, preparing, serving, through to waste food and packaging. This is a key area in our tender processes, ensuring our contractors share our ethos to embed sustainability throughout all our catering activities.
As part of this catering provision, we support small businesses who can offer affordable, ethically sourced, hot and cold food, and ensure that our on-campus provision always includes a fully plant-based staffed outlet.
Food has a unique contribution to make to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the potential to impact on most of the goals; zero hunger, health, wellbeing and life on land being a few.
Edible Garden
Our edible garden, located at the centre of campus, is open for everyone to enjoy. It is used to showcase food and biodiversity. Students, staff and the wider community are encouraged to enjoy the tranquillity of the space and to harvest vegetables, herbs and fruit together.
A simple green and red flag system shows when produce is ready to pick, while a noticeboard provides information on what is currently growing throughout the garden.
For the 2026 growing season, the garden includes a variety of crops such as brassicas and root vegetables, including carrots and beetroot. You will also find French climbing beans, runner beans grown on frames, and climbing squash. Other produce includes broad beans, courgettes, lettuce, tomatoes, aubergines and radishes.
Pollinator-friendly planting is being refreshed this year with hardy annuals grown from seed, including Clarkia, Corncockle, Godetia and Nigella. These flowers help attract and support bees and other important pollinating insects.
The herb section features a range of culinary plants, clearly labelled to make it easy for visitors to pick fresh ingredients to enhance their meals.
To further support biodiversity, new bug hotels have been installed in nearby areas to strengthen ecological corridors across the campus. These structures provide nesting spaces and shelter for insects, including solitary bees, particularly during the winter months. They play an important role in supporting pollinators and promoting a healthy, balanced environment.
Sourcing
Coventry University is a one star Fairtrade University, this accreditation was awarded to us by the Fairtrade Foundation in June 2026 for working to raise awareness with our students of the issues of ethical and sustainable consumption, and increasing the availability of Fairtrade products in our outlets, including tea and coffee. Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.
Coventry University achieved the Bronze Food for Life Here award in May 2026 within its Bistro Café and hospitality services. The award provides a framework through which food providers can ensure they are serving food that’s good for health, the environment and the economy. For more information on the accreditation, please check the Soil Association Food for Life website.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
We encourage everyone to separate and recycle their waste correctly when using our catering outlets and encourage users to choose crockery or refillable containers. To support this, discounts for using reusable coffee cups are available across campus and you can fill up water bottles for free at our water fountains in campus buildings.
