Sustainable catering tips and tricks

How to eat sustainably to save the planet

You may have noticed a shift in the way people are choosing to order and consume food and a rise in sustainable eating. We’re now more interested in finding out where our food has come from, whether it is locally grown or produced in a sustainable way or if it is eco-friendly. But, why is all this information important and how can we put these sustainable practices in use?

What is sustainability?

First, we need to talk about what sustainability even is. If you have access to mainstream media, you probably would have heard about it. Basically, the idea of sustainability is avoiding the depletion fo natural resources and the practice of maintaining ecological balance, whilst being aware of the social impacts. Eating sustainably doesn’t need to be a major life shift, but can be done through small steps and changes in our everyday habits.

Why is it important?

Whether you want to lower your greenhouse gas emissions, look into more sustainable diets or learn about the impact of the food you eat, these few small changes in your eating habits can make a world of difference. The goal of sustainable catering is to minimize the negative environmental impacts, contribute to local economies and supplying people with healthy and nutritious food.

No matter if you introduce small steps in the office, or your business is well versed with the pillars of sustainability, eating right has never done so much good.

How to order sustainable catering

Below are all the tips and tricks you need for introducing sustainable catering and eco friendly food habits into your workplace.

Source local and seasonal produce

Eating seasonally is an easy but effective way to introduce small sustainable habits that are good for the planet, while cutting down on processed or artificially ripened foods. If you can, get locally sourced, seasonal fresh produce. Whether it’s fruit, vegetables, milk or meat, the further your food has to travel, the larger your carbon footprint becomes. Getting your fresh produce from locally based suppliers lowers your food miles and therefore lowers your environmental impact. This is also the best way to support local farmers and businesses, so they can continue their services in the future.

Speak to a catering business such as EatFirst to learn more about our sustainable products and services. Our fruit and milk deliveries for the office give you fresh, seasonal produce with the assurance it has come direct from local, family owned businesses.

Reduce your food waste

Did you know over 4 tonnes of food ends up as landfill each year and one in five of our shopping bags end up in the bin? That’s equivalent to $3,400 worth of groceries per household each year. This is an extreme amount of food waste that can be avoided with some easy, new and simple everyday changes.

Working in the corporate catering industry, we see quite a bit of food waste. This is why it is important to us to not only offer advice on how much food to order, but also to build a community of sustainable caterers.

There are a few solutions when it comes to limiting food waste, like deciding to organise a compost for your home or office, or donating your corporate catering leftovers to organisations such as OzHarvest, who can assist with public health issues. An easy way to limit waste is to simply order the correct amount of food. Our corporate catering experts can give you advice on how much to order per person, so you can rest assured your guests will be well fed without the waste.

Eat less meat

It’s no lie the world loves its meat. Research shows the global consumption of meat per capita is rising. While this may be nice for our taste buds, the environment not so much. A rise in meat consumption and farming ultimately results in an increase in carbon emissions and reduced biodiversity.

Cutting down the amount of white and red meat you eat doesn’t mean going vegetarian, vegan or plant based, but reducing meat consumption from the average 110g a day, to 55g a day would make all the difference. Fill up on protein rich veggies and legumes instead, or find substitutes for your favourite meats for a couple of meals a week.

Want to give it a go? Simply swap working lunch favourites with vegetarian or plant based options in your corporate catering menu. Not only are you doing some good for the environment, you’re feeding your team healthy foods without compromising the ability to eat something tasty.

Support sustainable corporate caterers

When ordering corporate catering for an event, function or staff lunch, why not check out what sustainable options you have in your area? Order from office caterers who use recyclable boxes, trays and food containers, that also limit their single-use plastics, and incorporate good recycling practices in their own workplaces.

Whether you need catering for an event, general office catering or pantry supplies, it’s worth checking out whether less plastic can used in your order, if there’s a few more ways you can save paper or be more energy efficient. This could include having beverage dispensers, rather than a collection of single use plastic bottles, emailing the staff lunch menu rather than printing 40+ pieces of paper for everyone, or even just using certified green cleaning products after the food has been eaten.

Over 80% of our customers order milk, fruit and healthy snacks for their office. We make sure to source sustainable and locally sourced fresh produce from small Australian businesses to ensure low food miles and a low carbon footprint. Supporting efforts such as this is one smell step that has a large ripple effect.

Want a more sustainable workplace overall? Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.

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