Students eating food together

EcoEats is a brand new initiative for the academic year 2023/24 that aims to teach students cooking skills, food sustainability and help with the cost of living crisis, by focusing on healthy, nutritious meals on a budget. The idea for EcoEats came from the Green Lancaster ECOChallenge, where students compete together for sustainable ideas that could be implemented at Lancaster University.

The project will feature regular cooking sessions on campus, plus you can download our collection of recipes, where meals cooked during classes can be found so you can make them again.

EcoEats will run events with external partners such as Eggcup, Neighbourly and Green Lancaster who assist with sourcing food, chefs and equipment. We will also run events with groups like Soup Soc, LU Veg, Escape2Make, HelloFresh and Edible Campus.

Events

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More Events

I’m very interested in sustainability and recycling and with the help of EcoEats, I have learned about healthy eating and how to deal with the high cost of living.

A quote from Freddy, first-year international student

Our goals

EcoEats aims to focus on these three key aims.

Student skills

Cooking is a valuable life skill to have. We aim to equip students with the ability to manage food in a safe and healthy way. 25% of graduates haven't learned to cook by the time they finish university, relying on ready meals. It's also a great way to build community.

Food sustainability

Every Lancaster resident produces on average 140kg of food waste annually. With around 6,500 students on campus and another 10,000 living elsewhere, which could equal over 2,300 tonnes of wasted food. EcoEats aims to use surplus food to use in cooking lessons, thereby reducing that waste.

Cost of living

The cost of living is a burden on all students. Not only will the cooking sessions provide participants with a free nutritious meal but also teach them economical and sustainable food management skills that will help reduce their spending.

Volunteer with us

We're always looking for volunteers to help us with our project. If you're interested in learning to cook, making new friends, contributing towards responsible food use or looking to gain experience that can go on your CV and go towards your Lancaster Award, sign up through our form.

Our community

I really enjoyed the session I attended. The team were super welcoming and it was great making tasty meals from everyone's leftover ingredients.

A quote from Freya, a second-year Master's student