Peter Cross, Senior Lecturer in Food Business and Nutritional Sciences

University of West London

I have played an instrumental role in accelerating sustainable food initiatives at University of West London (UWL), beyond my role as a Senior Lecturer in Food Business and Nutritional Sciences.

I have contributed to improving UWL’s performance in sustainable food. For example, I have supported UWL to maintain its Sustainable Restaurant Association’s (SRA’s) Food Made Good accreditation. In order to reduce food waste, I also encouraged the University to get the Too Good To Go app. My work has prevented UWL from disposing of 70 meals, saving 175 kgCO2e in carbon.

I organised several campus-wide activities to improve engagement. This includes organising a presentation during Food Waste Action Week in collaboration with the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, increasing student engagement through teaching and research, and sharing knowledge with national and local external stakeholders as part of my work with Forum for the Future, WRAP Guardians of Grub, and the Ealing Food Partnership.

Annual carbon savings achieved with the initiative:

• CO2t savings 2022/2023: 3 (Estimated).
• CO2t savings 2023/2024: 3 (Estimated).     

Top 3 Learnings

1. Through sustainability initiatives, I had opportunities to engage with local communities and foster meaningful partnerships.
2. Engaging in sustainability initiatives gave me opportunities to collaborate with students/faculty from diverse disciplines.
3. Sustainability initiatives involved hands-on problem-solving tasks. I gained more skills by participating in these initiatives.