Catering and Fairtrade

With regard to catering items, York Conferences place a high priority on sustainability and environmental considerations. An example of this is a significant reduction in the use of frozen foodstuffs and an equally significant increase in the use of locally (i.e. Yorkshire region) sourced fresh food. All vegetables (with the exception of peas) are now fresh items.

Our coffee and tea is 100% Fair Trade and Fair Trade confectionery and biscuits are available on request. The University has Fair Trade status, which is overseen by a Fair Trade steering group.

We are continuing to reduce the use of disposable items but where these are required, we try to use biodegradable products.

All this mirrors Higher Education and national government initiatives to address these issues.

As part of Commercial Services we work closely with the Student Union's Environment Officers to raise awareness of Fair-trade ethics and to develop the range of Fair-trade products available in catering and retail outlets across the campus. The University of York was granted Fair-trade status in February 2005.

We are constantly on the look out for new Fair-trade products to add to our portfolio.