From your Halls Catering Team

Food in halls plays a critical role in students’ wellbeing and academic success. For the 2025–26 academic year, the Halls Catering Team has set out clear Sustainability and Wellbeing Targets that guide how food is planned, sourced and served across halls. These targets are designed to make nutritious, lower-impact food the easy choice for students every day.

Sustainability and Wellbeing commitments 2025/26

🌱 Plant-Based Priority:

1. 60% of dishes plant-based or vegetarian across programmes; plant-based milk at no extra charge.-

2. Daily order of service: Plant-Based → Vegetarian → Fish → Meat (Halal).

❤️ Nutrition & Wellbeing:

1. One dish per day featuring whole grains or unprocessed vegetables, legumes, and nuts.

2. Main dishes target ≥25g protein and ≤650 kcal per standard portion.

3. 25% beverages are no-sugar; free drinking water available in all locations

4.  Food items (excluding whole fruit) should not exceed 25g sugar per item.

5.  50% of all grain-based foods are whole grain.

6. Limit potatoes to 3 days per week (sweet potatoes excluded).

🐟 🐄 Fish & Meat Standards:

1. Fish available on menus 5 days per week; oily fish ≥ once every 10 days; fried fish ≤ once per week.

2. All fish MSC certified or not on MCS 'fish to avoid' list.

3. All meat Red Tractor as a minimum; all meat options Halal on designated days.

4. 5% purchases certified organic (aim 15% by 2027).

5. Red meat served no more than once per week.

🚜 Seasonal & Ethical Sourcing:

1. Fresh vegetables served in season where possible; avoid air-freighted veg.

2. Preference for frozen over imported fresh when out of season.

3. Avocado served no more than twice per 6-week period.

4. All suppliers must provide provenance for fresh items.

5. Fairtrade coffee across hospitality.

A note from the Head of Sustainability 

These commitments are already in place and you will see them being actioned across the year, for example in initiatives like Meat Free Monday, something that is fully supported by our Head of Sustainability, Steph Van De Pette: 

'From a sustainability perspective, Meat Free Mondays are one small but symbolic part of a much wider effort to reduce the environmental footprint of catering across LSE’s halls. The initiative supports our institutional net zero targets by lowering carbon emissions from our food service.It’s also worth emphasising that Meat Free Mondays are not about removing choice altogether but about rebalancing menus to highlight high-quality vegetarian and vegan dishes that meet the same nutritional standards as other meals.'