Sodexo’s Food & Co offer provides breakfast, morning break and lunch to 28,000 Oasis pupils as well as hospitality services. Sodexo rolled out its WasteWatch programme in May 2021 at Oasis academies to reduce food waste in the school meals service.
In 2019 Sodexo unveiled an ambition to cut food waste and loss by 50% across all its sites, putting it ahead of the United Nation’s call to halve food waste globally by 2030.
Steve Hawkins, managing director for schools at Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to thank the schools and our catering teams for their commitment to reducing food waste. We are committed to working together to ensure Oasis academy students enjoy tasty, nutritious school meals every day, and to help raise awareness of not only the importance of a well-balanced diet but how small changes can make a big difference.”
The new partnership with Rethink Food’s Futures programme provides Oasis academy students with learning opportunities with tower gardens enabling them to grow fresh produce from seed to salad in 60 days.
John Barneby, chief operating of Oasis Community Learning, added: “We are working on becoming the most sustainable family of schools in the sector and food is a key part of this strategy. Partnering with Sodexo has enabled us to create real change within our academy catering and inform our young people on sustainable food-choices.
“We look forward to continuing to see the improvements over the coming years as together we educate the next generation about the changes they can make to have a positive impact on the planet.”