The Good Food for Festivals Guide

How festival and other event organisers can celebrate the best of fresh, delicious and sustainable food About this Guide

“An ever-growing number Festivals and other events off er a of festivals in the United fantastic opportunity to celebrate Kingdom and around the the best of fresh, delicious and world have been at the sustainable food. forefront of promoting We understand that while many sustainability, whether festivals are keen to improve by reducing greenhouse their ethical credentials, tackling gas emissions, minimising the food being served can be waste, reducing their event’s daunting - hence this Good Food environmental impact for Festivals Guide, published or championing positive by Sustain in partnership with behaviour such as recycling. A Greener Festival. The guide With oft en large numbers of provides practical advice to festival people using shared catering, organisers on how to implement festivals provide an interesting positive changes. While the and enjoyable space to engage examples in the following pages are with the audience and promote drawn primarily from UK festivals, food sustainability. A Greener the topics and recommendations Festival has identifi ed food are relevant to the wider event and sustainability as a priority international festival community. for 2012 and we are actively By adopting the simple, aff ordable looking for bett er and healthier and eff ective actions outlined in this food at festivals, and to guide, many of which are already support sustainable farming. being taken by some forward- This clear and relevant set thinking festival organisers, your of guidelines is a real and event can play a part in improving important step forward and the health and well-being of will be a massive help to visitors, the livelihoods of farmers festival organisers and others and producers, the welfare of involved with live events.” farm animals, the conservation of precious wildlife and fi sh stocks, Ben Challis, Co-founder, and the long-term sustainability of A Greener Festival Photos © NCASS our food system.

“Eating, drinking and throwing things away are some of the “At last a guide that most in-your-face impacts at festivals. Choosing to provide raises the bar for everyone local, seasonal, chemical-free, healthy and sustainably-produced involved in outdoor catering. food is something all considerate event organisers and caterers A wealth of well-researched, should take on. Likewise the huge volumes of waste created from practical information all that eating and drinking can be diverted from landfi ll if the which if implemented will right serveware is chosen, and - so importantly – if onsite waste revolutionise both the operations and bin segregation is set up to match the local waste quality and appeal of food processing facilities used. This guide shines a spotlight on these at festivals. Let’s all work important issues and gives a great up-to-date look at the things together to spread the word you need to think about when planning catering and related waste to traders everywhere on how management. One of my best achievements has been diverting they can stand out as the 92% of waste away from landfi ll at Latitude Festival by doing tasty option. You’ve given just what is recommended in this guide. It can be done and the them the tools to do the job… punters love you for it!” let’s hope they use them.” Meegan Jones, Author of Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Bob Wilson, Greenpeace Guide, and Director of Green Shoot Pacifi c Events Co-ordinator Contents

Why sustainable food 2 Our top recommendations 3 An Olympic example Local, seasonal and organic food 6 Local alcoholic drinks 8 The organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have taken a pioneering approach by committ ing to serve Sustainable fi sh and seafood 9 sustainable food for the 14 million meals served at the Games. In Fairtrade 10 their London 2012 Food Vision, the organisers of the Games set out their commitment to serve British and seasonal food, healthy Meat and dairy 12 options, animal products from higher-welfare systems such as Healthier food 14 RSPCA Freedom Food, verifi ably sustainable fi sh, and Fairtrade products, and to radically reduce packaging and food waste. They Water 15 also aspire to use food from environmentally-friendly farming Waste 16 methods, such as LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) and organic. Making sure your sustainability eff orts are… sustainable! 20 Inspired by the London 2012 Food Vision, event organisers such as the Greater London Authority and Thames Festival have already Communications 22 committ ed to adopt these same food and catering standards in Appendix 1 23 their work. Building on the response to the London 2012 Food Food Sustainablility Checklist Vision, the Food Legacy programme has been established to for Traders encourage other caterers and event organisers to join in. Appendix 2 26 You can fi nd further information on the Food Legacy website: Useful contacts www.foodlegacy.org. Appendix 3 29 Food Legacy Pledge

Acknowledgements: Special thanks are due Thank you also to the funders and recognised good practice for sustainability. to Theresa Douthwright for her extensive supporters of the Food Legacy programme Please let us know of other ideas or work in compiling this guide, and to Kelly (www.foodlegacy.org) and the Ethical Eats examples of good practice that we should Parsons, Charlott e Jarman and Melissa project (www.ethicaleats.org), acknowledged promote. Food sustainability is always a Hayles, coordinators of the Ethical Eats and below. work in progress! Food Legacy projects at Sustain, and Kath Dalmeny for editorial support. Thanks also Please note that inclusion of commercial We have addressed what we believe to be the to A Greener Festival for all of their support, services and organisations in this document main sustainability issues for festival food contacts and enthusiasm, to Julie’s Bicycle, does not constitute an endorsement or in this guide. However it is not exhaustive, sustainable event consultant Meegan Jones, recommendation by Sustain; nor does and there are some considerations – such as and the many festival and event organisers exclusion of other similar services mean culturally and religiously appropriate foods, who generously provided advice, as well as that we have taken a view on the relative and dietary and allergy considerations – many inspiring examples of how they are merits of goods or services from diff erent which were beyond the scope of our work. organisations. Text is based on advice from Where possible we have included some putt ing health and sustainability principles into practice. the festival organisers and their support contacts at the back of the document. organisations that we consulted, and on

food legacy Ethical eats Inspired by the London 2012 Food Vision

Working with: Ethical Eats catering network is funded by the Big Lottery’s Local Food Fund. It is also supported by GreenCook, a pan-European project working to reduce food waste, funded by Interreg IVB, part of the European Union’s Regional Development Fund.

Ethical Eats is supported by: Food Legacy is supported by: Why sustainable food at festivals? Festival organisers have a real opportunity to improve the sustainability of their festival, in a delicious way. How? Think with your belly, think about food.

The following pages highlight key food and drink, water and waste sustainability issues facing the festival community, and provide advice, contacts and motivation for tackling the issues in a practical way. To start, take a look at our top More and more festivals are From a business point of view, tips for tackling festival food and working to make their events festival staff and food and drink drink sustainability environmentally friendly – from caterers are also beginning Our own research, specifi cally starting up renewable energy to recognise that providing looking at what festival-goers think initiatives to reducing waste sustainable food and drink is not about food, found that: through recycling and composting, only good for the health of their requiring environmentally- customers and the planet, but can 72% think festival organisers friendly packaging on-site, be good for business too. should ban the sale of post-event salvage eff orts and fi sh and seafood from Making sure that the food and re-thinking audience and artist overfi shed stocks, or caught drink served is local can help to transport. For most, making sure in environmentally damaging ensure that the festival is received the food and drink also measure ways positively by the local community. up ethically has been less of a 83% would choose free range priority so far. Food is a great way of bringing eggs to eat if given a choice people together. By involving local But food production and producers (and providing rural Nearly 80% would prefer consumption has an enormous jobs in the process), festivals are to eat meat raised to higher eff ect on the environment and on more likely to receive ongoing animal welfare standards our health, so addressing the food support not only from the served is a vital part of becoming Over 90% said they would community, but also, crucially, a truly green festival. separate their waste if facilities from the councils who grant site were provided. The pages of this guide are full permissions each year. of reasons why being sustainable So customers are asking for makes sense – for the health and it, caterers are beginning to welfare of people and animals, understand the demand and for the environment, and for embrace new food opportunities, society and culture. We also know and landlords may even require it, councils and other landlords are which leaves festival organisers in themselves increasingly interested a powerful position to improve the in ensuring that the events they sustainability of their events in a host meet certain sustainability big and delicious way. expectations.

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E S P I R Shambala, Some words of wisdom from festival organisers who have put sustainability policies in place: Northamptonshire, England Education is key – many caterers are keen to be sustainable but are very busy and don’t always Chris Johnson, co-founder of understand the issues. Shambala Festival and coordinator of the Green Festival Alliance for Julie’s It is important to have a two-way discussion to help Bicycle, gives some top tips. “Don’t traders improve. change too much too quickly - try to See change as a process – make demands one step at a take everyone with you,” says Chris, time. You can’t be overly prescriptive straight away or “especially as you may want to traders won’t be able to work at your event. keep many of your chosen traders.” For example, make some easily Balance that with using friendly warnings to make achievable targets for traders in the sure changes take place. Sustainability will soon be fi rst year (e.g. Fairtrade tea, coff ee, government policy, and some organisers and landlords milk, hot chocolate and sugar), and are already sett ing out requirements for traders to adhere provide a checklist which outlines to, so it is important to tell caterers the way the wind is what will be expected in year two. blowing, and that they may as well start addressing their “Traders can fi ll out the checklist approach now. so you know what is already in Arrange for a member of your team – or an interested place, and get a feel for the future volunteer – to audit the stalls at your event to ensure they expectations,” he adds, “and talk to are adhering to the policy, and take notes and pictures of the traders about how this aff ects positive examples that you can promote. them, and help them by providing lists of recommended wholesalers.” Help traders to form buying groups to bring down prices. See our checklist template in Appendix

Our top recommendations for festival organisers

1. Find out what you are serving at your event. 8. Set up an incentive plan, for example discounted stall Auditing your stallholders against a checklist such as fees, or an awards scheme, to encourage stallholders the one shown in the appendix is the fi rst step on the to switch to more sustainable products such as local, journey to making your food sustainable. organic or Fairtrade foods. You could also reward your most ethical traders by including discount 2. Decide what your policy on food will be, based vouchers for their food in your programme, to on the issues you feel strongly about and want to encourage other businesses to follow suit. prioritise. The Food Legacy pledge provided in the appendix can be used as a template. 9. Ban food vendors from serving red-listed fi sh and seafood. Use the Marine Conservation Society’s 3. Hire a sustainability manager - or appoint a specifi c simple Good Fish Guide to identify these: htt p:// person on the organising team to oversee, develop fi shonline.org/fi sh-advice/avoid and implement your food policy. 10. Set a minimum standard for meat, such as British or 4. Communicate with and support your stallholders Red Tractor certifi ed. in the run-up to the event, helping them to help you meet your goals. 11. Work with your local water supply company to set up water refi ll points on site. Make sure you give 5. In advance, provide a list of recommended yourself, and them, enough time to get organised. sustainable suppliers to traders, and where appropriate negotiate a discount for all festival 12. Contact the Food Waste Network for advice on food caterers with your chosen suppliers. waste recycling services. 6. Set up a wholesale market for traders on-site. Make 13. Ban plastic sachet portions and plastic and it easy for traders to replenish supplies and meet polystyrene serveware. your sustainable food and serveware standards by 14. Shout about your sustainable food values and stocking local, seasonal, organic and Fairtrade food achievements on your website, in your programme and drink, and sustainable serveware items, on-site. and through the media. 7. Go as local as possible when stocking your bars. 15. Increase the proportion of vegetarian/vegan vendors Consider working with both small- and medium- and menu options as it’s proven that their production sized UK breweries and other drinks producers to is generally more sustainable than meat and fi sh provide the range of products you want to serve. alternatives. 3 The ethical pound We know people are asking ever more questions about what they are eating and are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on ethical considerations. Good food therefore has clear benefi ts for a festival’s credibility and reputation.

“Our festival goers expect to see local, organic and fair-trade food at the event. They would be disappointed if we weren’t providing these things. Our sustainability guidelines are integral to the ethos of the festival. This is something that is part of a wider movement to make sure that having a good time, partying and dancing with your friends does not have a negative environmental impact. In fact, we can use festivals to help educate and increase sustainable practices.” Helen Starr-Keddle, Environmental Coordinator, Waveform Festival.

UK ethical spending is at an all-time high. Sales of eco-friendly and ethical products in Britain have risen by 9% since 2010, even despite the recession, according to the Co-operative “Price doesn’t always Bank’s Ethical Consumerism Report 2011. The likelihood is that increase when you change customers will be happier to pay a bit more if they know why to a sustainable supplier. a stall’s prices are higher and can buy in to the values being Festival organisers promoted. That said, sustainable food choices do not necessarily could recommend that mean that prices have to go up – some options are actually caterers take a look at the cheaper. Sustainable Restaurant According to the July 2011 Eating Out report published by Association’s supplier industry analysts Allegra Strategies, sustainably-sourced directory and shop around produce is a key motivator, with nearly half of diners more a litt le. We recently moved likely to visit an establishment where the food is sourced to Rare Breed Meat Co sustainably, and just over half saying they prefer to eat at who worked out to be less establishments where the food is sourced locally and regionally. expensive for us than our previous supplier.” Lisa Drabble, Squid and Pear Caterers, London

4 What the festival community has to say

“Our feedback from festivals has been that suppliers want to pursue more sustainable options, and given the support and information will make more sustainable choices.” Chris Johnson, Green Festival Alliance Coordinator, Julie’s Bicycle, and Co-director, Shambala Festival

“The work you are doing with festivals is a brilliant idea. We have been so frustrated with event organisers talking about “The closer the producer, the happier the local sourcing locally, but not community are about your event.” following through on our Michael Havard, Bars Manager, Green Man Festival off ers to grow produce especially for their event. “The Association of Independent Festivals We know these events are currently represents 40 events, with a joint planned way in advance so capacity of over 550,000 visitors, so there is there is every opportunity a huge opportunity for festival organisers to for us to plan our growing have a signifi cant impact on the food system. in advance too and provide Many of our members are already doing truly locally grown food for great things, and we are delighted to see a their stallholders” resource highlighting exactly what, why and North Aston Organics, how they can make sustainable Oxfordshire catering choices “Many festivals are in the throughout process of becoming more their events.” sustainable and are now Claire O’Neil, General Manager, Association of looking for their caterers Independent Festivals, and Co-founder, A Greener Festival to be so too. Sustain’s guidelines are great because “Our real ale and cider bar, which stocks local they provide clear and products, has the highest turnover for its size at concise information about the festival… It is with sparkly eyes that our what the important issues customers ask the bar staff , ‘Ooooh! Where does are and the steps we can that one come from? Who made that? It’s local? take to get there” Well done you guys – yum!’.” Ian Fielder, Festival Manager, Michael Havard, Bars Manager, Green Man Festival Green Man Festival

5 Local and seasonal food

What’s the issue? Increasing demand for a wide range of ready-prepared and exotic out-of-season produce means that the food we are eating is being transported further than ever. In fact, food is responsible for nearly a third of UK greenhouse gases, according to the Food Climate Research Network. As well as contributing towards climate change, these trends are associated with all sorts of other problems such as loss of freshness, fl avour and variety; paying more for less (the costs of transporting, refrigerating and packaging associated with long- distance food); and the erosion of food security, culture, knowledge and skills. What’s more, each fruit or vegetable has a prime time when it is at its seasonal best. Caterers that use seasonal food oft en adopt fl exible menus that can use and highlight the very best of what is available at a particular time of year, and sometimes feature unusual or traditional varieties to add interest. This can have great benefi ts for food quality, with seasonal food being at its peak of fl avour and freshness – oft en also at the best value. There are also considerable benefi ts for the environment, with seasonal food usually needing less transportation and packaging and sometimes lower use of farm chemicals. Environmentally-friendly farming Farming accounts for three quarters of UK land, and has an immense impact on our environment. Historically, farming has contributed to the beauty of the British countryside, but industrialised agriculture has also caused environmental damage such as soil erosion, water pollution, and damage to wildlife habitats from pesticide use and other intensive farming techniques. Organisers can support environmentally-friendly farming by working with traders that use foods accredited to a higher, recognised standard such as Organic, LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Marque, or the Red Tractor Farm Assured scheme (see ‘Marks to look out for’ box for details). Another way to assure the environmental quality of the food you buy is to encourage your traders to get to know the farmers that supply their food, and fi nd out about the methods they use and the standards they work to. Many small farms, for example, operate to high standards but cannot aff ord the time or money needed to join an offi cial accreditation scheme.

Compile and distribute a What event organisers can do to promote list of local producers and local, seasonal, and organic food: suppliers that can provide seasonal/organic products to Set a minimum standard for that are in season at the stallholders, or even broker local/seasonal/organic foods time of the festival to assist direct purchases between served by vendors. with designing menus and stallholders and farms.  As part of their event-wide selecting produce. sustainability plan, Thames  Waveform festival asks Make personal contact with Festival organisers are vendors to provide a local growers to fi nd out who committ ed to promoting minimum of 75% organic wholesales their produce and local and seasonal produce. food and drinks. fi nd out what steps would be needed to increase the fl ow All salads and vegetables  All caterers at Sunrise of produce towards your must be UK grown and Festival are expected to use event. If growers know they vendors are supplied with a minimum of 80% organic are gett ing the business, they a list of UK vegetables ingredients.

6 Bread - it’s time to Marks to look out for get Real! Key certifi cation schemes for food produced to higher Today around 80% of UK loaves environmental standards are: and buns are produced by the factories of a handful of industrial bakers and another 15% by supermarkets, usually using a cocktail of artifi cial additives. Slowly, independent Real Bread bakeries are re-emerging, bringing Organic food is produced by wildlife-friendly and climate-friendly delicious, additive-free loaves and farming, where the use of agrochemicals is strictly controlled, and to traditional skills to members of some of the highest standards of animal welfare. local communities, providing a LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) promotes real boost to local economies and environmentally responsible farming, to environmental standards places of social interaction for local that control chemical use and promote wildlife. people. So why not support this Rainforest Alliance works to prevent deforestation by ensuring that trend by encouraging traders that forests, farms, ranches and hotel properties are managed according serve bread to use locally-made to high sustainability standards. Real (i.e. additive-free) Bread instead? Your traders can fi nd A new Pasture Fed standard, launched in 2012, highlights farmers Real Bread bakers in their area at whose beef catt le are fed mainly on grass. This has lots of benefi ts realbreadcampaign.org. in terms of wildlife, landscape management and greenhouse gas emissions. Organisations such as the National Trust (host to many festivals and events) are very interested in promoting grass-fed meat. Find out more from the Pasture Fed Livestock Association: www.pfl a.org.uk

can be prepared and produce a wholesale facility, consider Off er a rebate on stall fees more, particularly if advance establishing one and make it when stallholders present contracts are agreed. easy for traders to meet your proof of sustainable purchases. sustainable food standards by Determine what will be in  Peat’s Ridge festival near stocking local, seasonal and season at the time of the Sydney, Australia gives a organic items. festival and communicate your $500 rebate on stall fees fi ndings to traders. A useful  Glastonbury has a wholesale when presented with seasonality chart is available market on-site which has receipts for $2000 worth of at: www.schoolfoodtrust.org. also reduced the need for certifi ed organic produce. truck movement on- and uk/download/documents/pdf/ Use the festival website and off -site during the festival. sft _seasonality_chart_a4.pdf programme to communicate Set up an incentive plan to Set up and stock a festival/ the achievements of stallholders encourage stallholders to campsite market for festival- going the extra mile to provide switch to local and organic goers and campers to reduce local, seasonal and organic food. This may be particularly the need for them to bring in foods. Use the changes to useful if your festival has long- food from off -site - a major create positive stories on-site standing relationships with contributor to food and and beyond for your event. traders that you have been packaging waste on festival Show your customers that you working with for many years. grounds (Glastonbury estimates are committ ed to change for a that half of all food consumed bett er future. If you have a wholesale facility on-site is brought in). where traders can  Latitude Festival has an replenish food on-site village/festival shop items on-site, 82% of including a selection of ensure that festival-goers local, organic and Fairtrade sustainable indicated that they products. products would use a reasonably are  Gilcombe Farm, an priced market/grocery organic family-run farm in stocked. If shop if there was one you do not Somerset, sets up a farm yet have available on festival shop near the entrance grounds. gates to the Sunrise Festival.

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E S P I R Sunrise Festival – Bruton, Somerset Sunrise Festival organisers have established a site-wide organic policy for all food and drinks, including alcohol. As part of this policy, all suppliers of consumable goods are expected to achieve a minimum of 85% organic content in their wares. To encourage traders to use local suppliers, organisers have established The Sunrise Local Organic Food Initiative, which aims to minimise the environmental cost of transporting goods. As part of this initiative: Information on local organic suppliers and the Sunrise Local Organic Food Initiative will be distributed to all traders in advance of the event. Local organic food suppliers will be on-site to supply goods directly to traders. Traders will be able to pledge to buy local organic foods during the event. These traders will be presented with certifi cates to display to the public. An Ethical Trading Policy is also in place, sett ing out strict guidelines governing which traders are chosen for the event.

Going for local alcoholic drinks What festival organisers can do…

Aim to source distinctively local beers from a brewery close by. The

I BE Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) recommends fi nding a brewer less N D than 30 miles from an event. It runs a LocAle accreditation scheme for S Green Man E pubs which sell local beer, and similar principles could be applied to P I R festivals. For more information on the scheme visit www.camra.org. Festival, Glanusk uk/locale Park, Wales Speak to your local CAMRA branch for practical advice on Green Man has a large bar running a festival which provides real ale (including sourcing, service with fi ve bars on-site, and storage and cooling for the beer), and for recommendations on serves local beers, ales and ciders which local breweries would be best placed to supply you. You sourced from within a 50-70 mile can fi nd out where your local CAMRA branch is at www.camra. radius. How do they do it? Green org.uk/branches. Man works with medium-sized UK breweries (e.g. Aspalls) for Set a target! draught lager and cider, as well  At least 80% of the alcohol stocked on site at Sunrise Festival is as with small-scale and local organic and, wherever possible, locally produced. producers. As for items which are Sample new varieties and, if you can, visit local breweries. not readily available in the UK, such as wine, the festival sources When buying from more than one brewery, see if they can share as close to home as possible - only transport. European wine is served. Get your ale in early, cold and sett led properly - nobody likes Some no-brainers from Green Man: wastage. 1. The closer the booze, the less Make sure to ask for ale racks, taps and spiles from the breweries, distance travelled, the less they have them. It will save you money and having to buy new damage done. ones. 2. The closer the booze, the Do your research - check for local networks, groups and quicker you can get more stock associations to work with, for example the Welsh Cider if you need it. Association and many more. 3. The closer the producer, the Enquire about ‘sale or return’ deals. happier the local community Use your booze to celebrate the local identity of your event. are about your event.

8 Sustainable fi sh and seafood

What’s the issue? People are eating more fi sh than they used to, and a lot of it is caught or farmed using destructive methods. There has been a shocking decline in popular fi sh species over the past century, and we are now seriously at risk of losing some species from our seas for ever. Millions of people worldwide depend on fi sh for food and for their livelihood, so this would have dire social and ecological consequences. The good news is that there’s still time to do something about it. Fish stocks can recover if they are managed sustainably, and if we stop buying fi sh from badly-managed stocks. Caterers, restaurants and event organisers can 73% all do their bit by adopting a sustainable fi sh- think festival buying policy, supporting good livelihoods organisers should in sustainable fi shing and protecting precious ban the sale of fi sh stocks for generations to come. endangered fi sh and seafood.

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What organisers can do: D S Thames Festival, P E London, England I R Include a sustainable fi sh Sign up requirement in your food policy. to the As part of their commitment Sustainable to helping London become a Require that all food vendors Fish City campaign, for Sustainable Fish City, Thames serving fi sh and/or seafood support with gett ing the Festival organisers require food commit to serving only support you need. www. stallholders to exclude fi sh verifi ably sustainable fi sh. sustainablefi shcity.net. Identify and seafood from their recipes Two useful organisations and and celebrate caterers who identifi ed as ‘fi sh to avoid’ tools to help you: pride themselves on serving by the Marine Conservation  The Marine Conservation sustainable fi sh and seafood. Society. Fish was the theme of Society and their Good Fish the Festival’s 2011 Feast on the Guide which lists ‘fi sh to Bridge event. The event celebrated eat’ and ‘fi sh to avoid’. Make sustainable fi sh with debates, it a requirement that your stalls, sea shanties and cycle- vendors do not serve any powered cinema screenings. fi sh or seafood from the ‘fi sh See: www.sustainweb.org/ to avoid’ list. Download a sustainablefi shcity/fi sh_news/ handy Good Fish Guide at: sep11_thames_festival_celebrates_ www.mcsuk.org/ sustainable_fi sh downloads/fi sheries/  The Marine Stewardship Council and their Marks to look out for Sustainable Seafood Product Finder. Seafood carrying the Marine Stewardship Council www.msc.org/where-to- (MSC) eco-label comes from a fi shery that has been buy/product-fi nder independently certifi ed to the MSC’s high standard for a well-managed and sustainable fi shery. For farmed fi sh, certifi ed organic and RSPCA Freedom Food (a fi sh welfare standard) are good options.

9 Going Fairtrade

What’s the issue? World market prices for commodity crops such as coff ee, sugar and rice are highly volatile, oft en falling below the costs of production. The reasons for this are complex, and related to unfair rules governing international trade, which oblige many poorer countries to open their own markets to imports while producing goods for export. The consequences can be devastating for both small-scale producers and agricultural labourers in Africa, Latin America and Asia. With few – if any – other employment opportunities open to them, and no welfare state to fall back on, many small farmers are unable to aff ord basic necessities such as food for their families, healthcare, and education for their children. Fairtrade is about bett er prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in poorer countries. Buying Fairtrade products, which guarantees a minimum price for the food crop, is one way to help people out of the cycle of poverty. Since the FAIRTRADE Mark was fi rst introduced to the UK in 1994, the UK market for Fairtrade products has gone from strength to strength. Sales of Fairtrade products in the UK exceeded £1 billion in 2010, and over three-quarters of adults in the UK now recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark. What festival organisers can do:

Set up a minimum standard Broker direct purchases requiring that readily available between stallholders and Fairtrade products are sold as Fairtrade suppliers. standard, for example coff ee, Set up a wholesale market tea, hot chocolate, bananas and facility on-site where traders sugar. can replenish Fairtrade items  Glastonbury has a Fairtrade during the festival. procurement requirement for all coff ee, tea, hot Set up an incentive plan to chocolate and sugar. encourage stallholders to switch to Fairtrade foods.  The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Communicate and celebrate organisers committ ed in your Fairtrade standards. their standards to buy  In 2010, the Thames only Fairtrade coff ee, Festival hosted the fi rst ever tea, bananas and sugar, Fairtrade Village, sponsored and have also included by The Co-operative Food. Fairtrade chocolate, oranges Leading UK Fairtrade and white wine. companies were present, Compile and distribute a list of including Divine Chocolate, suppliers that off er Fairtrade Cafédirect and Cream foods to all your food vendors O’Galloway ice-cream prior to the event (see contacts (which uses Fairtrade sugar section on p25). and cocoa powder).

10 Marks to look out for The FAIRTRADE Mark Fairtrade is a tool for development that ensures disadvantaged farmers and workers in developing countries get a bett er deal through the use of the international FAIRTRADE Mark. For a product to display the FAIRTRADE Mark it must meet international Fairtrade standards.

What about Rainforest Alliance? YouYo may be wondering about the diff erences between the two best-known coff ee accreditation schemes - Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance. The fi rst – Fairtrade – focuses mainly on the farmers’ or farm labourers’ income and welfare. The second – Rainforest Alliance – focuses mainly on environmental standards, with some rules on working conditions built in. According to research organisation Ethical Consumer, a key diff erence is that Fairtrade producers must be smallholders or organised into workers’ co-operatives, which must be managed democratically, have transparent administration, and be politically independent. The FAIRTRADE Mark also means that farmers have been paid a fi xed premium, to be invested in social, environmental or economic development projects, chosen democratically by the producer organisation or workers’ association. Rainforest Alliance aims to conserve biodiversity and encourage sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices,

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N business practices and consumer behaviour. The scheme focuses D Glastonbury S on how farms are managed. It works with various stakeholders, E Festival, P I R from large multinational corporations to small, community-based Worthy Farm, co-operatives and ”sets standards for sustainability that conserve wildlife and wildlands and promote the well-being of workers and Somerset their communities“. At Glastonbury, coff ee, sugar , hot Campaigners have questioned the strength of the Rainforest chocolate and most tea sold on-site Alliance’s scheme compared to that of Fairtrade, and some prefer are Fairtrade. Organisers actively Fairtrade products because more of the money goes direct to encourage stallholders to increase smaller farmers. In Ethical Consumer’s latest product report on their stock of Fairtrade products coff ee, Rainforest Alliance was criticised for not guaranteeing a each year and have a designated minimum price, nor a signifi cant fi xed premium. award given by the Fairtrade Foundation to the trader doing most to provide Fairtrade goods.

11 Meat and dairy

What’s the issue? Much of the meat on sale in the UK is produced intensively, with poor regard for animal welfare. Yet two-thirds of consumers say they think animal welfare is an important issue, and over half of the population is currently making at least one or two purchase decisions as a result of their att itude to animal welfare standards, according to research by the RSPCA/Institute of Grocery Distribution. You can respond to these concerns by buying local or British meat and poultry produced to higher animal welfare standards, such as certifi ed organic, free range, or RSPCA Freedom Food. And don’t forget the eggs, milk, butt er and cheese. Consumers clearly favour free range eggs, as the majority of eggs bought in supermarkets are now free range. It’s time for catering to follow this lead. Old-style batt ery cages are banned in Europe from 2012, but ‘enriched’ cages – only ever-so-slightly bigger – are still allowed. So for happy chickens (and high quality, nutritious and tasty eggs), going cage-free is the way forward. Likewise, we know that happy, healthy cows make for high quality milk, butt er and cheese. Despite the decline in small-scale dairy 78% of farming in recent years, and consolidation into the hands of a festival-goers few large processors, there are some fantastic small dairies left in would prefer to eat the UK, and some equally fantastic producers of dairy products. meat from animals raised to higher welfare standards Part-time carnivores Religious and cultural foods Most of us are now aware that we Food standards are important for many should eat less meat (especially religions and cultures. These usually relate to the meat, dairy red meat and processed meat) and and fi sh products in a person’s diet, and ingredients derived fewer products of animal origin, from animal sources, and may require - for example - animal both to reduce our impact on the products to have been raised and slaughtered to certain environment, and to improve standards; exclusion of certain types of food (most commonly pig our health. While the number products); rules about the strict separation of food products and of vegetarians in the UK has kitchen equipment during preparation; and rules about alcohol remained relatively stable over consumption. recent years, evidence suggests Customers from diff erent religious and cultural backgrounds will that more and more people are appreciate you providing appropriate foods, and labelling clearly trying to eat less meat – indeed, those which meet certain standards such as Halal or Kosher, so according to some market that they can eat with confi dence. Note that any such claim is research, ‘meat reducers’ account a trading standards issue, so you will need to be sure that your for 45 per cent of the population. food really is compliant with such standards if you advertise it as such. You may fi nd that if you are not able to off er such reassurance, then the person opts for a vegetarian dish to be on the safe side, hence we have included details for the Vegetarian Society and Vegan Society and their catering guidance, in the Appendix. To fi nd out more about religious and cultural food preferences, check out our culturally and religiously appropriate foods section in the contacts at the end of this document.

12 Marks to look out for Organic Organic food is produced by wildlife-friendly and climate- friendly farming, where the use of agrochemicals is strictly controlled, and to some of the highest standards of animal welfare. Free range (only legally defi ned for poultry and eggs) Free range poultry must have access to open-air runs that are mainly covered with vegetation, and there are rules governing the amount of space per bird and the type of shelter provided. Other animals such as pigs may be described as ‘free range’ or ‘outdoor reared,’ which is likely to be bett er for welfare, but What organisers can do: these terms are not legally defi ned. If meat is to be sold at your RSPCA Freedom Food festival, require that it is sourced Freedom Food is the RSPCA’s farm assurance and food from producers who follow labelling scheme, meaning that animals reared for food higher welfare standards have a happier, healthier life, with farmers providing an (check out the marks to look for environment that meets their physical and psychological needs. opposite). Red Tractor Make personal contact with Farmers producing food that qualifi es to carry a local farmers to fi nd out who Red Tractor logo are independently inspected and wholesales their meat/poultry, meet minimum legal requirements for food safety, and whether or not they are able environmental protection and animal welfare.

to supply direct.

I BE D N Distribute a list of local E S suppliers/farmers that can P I R provide meat to stallholders at Shambala, the time of the festival. Northhamptonshire, Broker direct purchases between England stallholders and farms. Caterers and stalls are only Set up an incentive plan to off ered a pitch at Shambala if encourage stallholders to switch they can prove that they are to higher welfare meat and managed ethically. The festival’s poultry. ethical procurement policy requires traders to: Set up an on-site market for traders. Facilitate the use of Only use meat which can higher welfare meat/poultry by be proved to come from an stocking these items on site. ethical source Use Fairtrade, organic and Inform festival-goers of your local supplies wherever eff orts to provide meat from possible happy animals. Use only biodegradable  At London Green Fair, plates/cups/cutlery traders are encouraged to educate dinners about Each year the trader deemed to meat, by providing be the most sustainable receives information on whether it is the festival’s Green Trader organic or free range. Award, and gets a discount of 50% on the following year’s Encourage traders to reduce pitch fee. meat portion size and build meals around more plant-based www.shambalafestival.org/ food, such as bread, grains, about/sustainability/ vegetables and pulses. Think about whether you want to commit a proportion of your food trading space to meat-free food.

13 Healthier food Festivals are in a unique position to provide a platform for trying out new ideas. While encouraging healthy decision-making and tackling problems such as obesity might not be your biggest concern as a festival organiser, the selection of food off erings at your festival is one sure-fi re way that you can encourage healthy eating. Solutions to diet- related health problems are not just about individual choice. We need to change the environment in which people make their choices – and that means ensuring healthier food options and more responsible marketing techniques are used by people who provide our food, and that includes festival and event organisers. What you can do Work with food vendors who use less meat and lots of veggies, wholegrains and other starchy foods. Make sure there lots of alternatives to sugary fi zzy drinks, such as water and local fruit juices. Make tap water freely available. Encourage your vendors to adopt the Healthier Catering Commitment (see box) as designed by the London Boroughs and championed by the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health and Greater London Authority. An action plan for healthier dishes Find out more about how you can help make your food healthier by adopting the simple tips set out in the Healthier Catering Commitment. This scheme has been designed by environmental health teams in London Boroughs with support from the NHS Primary Care Trusts, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Greater London Authority. This guidance off ers practical advice and describes low- cost and straightforward changes that can be made to menus and the way you prepare food, which will help make your food healthier and should help you make fi nancial savings through reduced waste. The scheme is being promoted by environmental health teams in participating boroughs throughout London to improve the diets of Londoners and the standards are freely available online to download at www.cieh.org/healthier-catering-commitment.html.

14

I N BE

S D E Water Bott led water: Limetree P I R “More energy is needed to Festival, Masham, fi ll the bott les with water at North Yorkshire the factory, move it by truck, In 2011, Limetree set an What’s the issue? train, ship, or air freight to the ambitious target of becoming Although it is possible to recycle user, cool it in refrigerators, an entirely plastic-free festival. plastic water bott les, and even re- and recover, recycle, or throw Vendors were prohibited from use them, by far the best option is away the empty bott les. The selling bott led water and with not to have a disposable bott le at all. Pacifi c Institute estimates the help of Tapwater.org free tap On this measure, tap water easily that the total amount of water was made available on- wins the environmental batt le with energy embedded in our use of site. Water came from the mains bott led water can be as high bott led water. There is no plastic supplied around the festival as the equivalent of fi lling a waste to burn, bury or turn into site. Limetree and Tapwater. plastic bott le one quarter full org worked together to plan the other consumer goods, using energy. with oil.” same service for the 2012 festival. Similarly, when it comes to Bott led Water and Energy – A “There are simply no issues in transport, the Chartered Institution Fact Sheet, The Pacifi c Institute providing drinking water for of Water and Environmental festivals providing we have the Management has pointed out time to prepare. On average three the substantial fuel costs, and to six months is about what we thousands of tonnes of harmful emissions involved in need to organise free drinking transferring over 22 million tonnes of bott led liquid from water at event sites. Most water country to country every year. In contrast, tap water is provided utility companies have emergency tanks available and are willing by a comparatively effi cient infrastructure of underground to support these types of events. pipes and plumbing. Although the system will use some fi If not there are other alternatives energy, it is very signi cantly less than that involved in available on the market if mains shipping and trucking bott les around the globe (containing connections are not possible”. water that has already been pumped and piped and purifi ed), Michael Green, Founder, Tapwater.org and so will help to reduce our impact on climate change. www.sustainweb.org/foodfacts/have_you_bott led_it/. What organisers can do: Set a target to become a plastic water charity Drop4Drop - Identify a useful end point for bott le free event. managed by Life Water. waste water. Ban the sale of bott led water at Provide free tap water at the  Sunrise organisers dispose your event. festival. of all waste water from showers, cafés, etc. into a   Grassroots Eco Music Festival Latitude Festival organise WET (reedbed) system at a 2011 was a bott le-free event. free drinking water points nearby farm. throughout the campsites Ask festival goers to bring located next to toilet blocks. Monitor the amount of water their own refi llable bott le and The supply is tested in used during the festival tell them that drinking water advance and daily during will be available for refi lls.  Water consumption levels the festival. Communicate this on the for the whole of the event festival website.  Bonnaroo in Texas has are recorded as a part looked past the profi ts of of the Sunrise Festivals Organise the sale of reusable selling bott led water by sustainability appraisal. water bott les or involve an selling reusable bott les and organisation to do it for you. Donate reusable bott le making it compulsory for proceeds to a charity. See, for example, Tapwater.org bars at the festival to refi ll  Grassroots Eco Music and GivemeTap.org. the water bott les for free. Festival: re-usable water  Sunrise Festival sells  Sunrise organisers reduce the refi llable water bott les and bott les are sold for £1 each need for plastic water bott les and 100% of proceeds going refi ll points with fi ltered by placing drinking water water from a natural spring to WaterAid (in conjunction taps at regular intervals with Jersey Water). on the land. Proceeds around the site with special from bott le sales go to the att ention paid to dance areas.

15 Waste

What’s the issue? We throw away a shocking 8.3 million tonnes of food every year, most of which could have been eaten. That’s about one third of the food produced. However much energy has been used to make food and its packaging, all of it is wasted when it is thrown away. Food waste is also usually wet and rots, so when mixed into other waste, it spoils materials that could otherwise have been recycled and gives off gases that contribute to climate change. WRAP estimates that the hospitality sector could save £724 million per year by tackling its food waste. See the WRAP hospitality and foodservice page for more information: www.wrap.org.uk/ category/audience/hospitality All food waste may soon be banned from landfi ll sites according to plans set out in the UK’s 2011 Government Policy Waste Review, so starting on a strategy for food waste now is a vital step for anyone involved in events and festivals. A great deal of waste is generated at festivals and other events: uneaten food, packaging, and whole fi elds of tents and other materials left behind add up to one of the most serious environmental impacts festivals can have. Many festivals now undertake some form of environmentally conscious waste management; however, many could be doing much more. Festival-goers also appear ready to help out with waste management initiatives.

A survey carried out by A Greener Festival of 649 festival visitors found the following att itudes to waste management at events: 71% strongly agree or agree that waste is a negative environmental impact of festivals. 81% agreed or strongly agreed that if provided with separate bins they would separate their rubbish. 57% of festival-goers agree or strongly agree that re-usable crockery and cutlery should be used instead of disposables at festivals.

Any festival or event will generate a range of waste materials during the set-up, running and break-down stages of the event. Sustainable waste management is based on the waste hierarchy (steps 1-5 below). The processes at the top of the hierarchy are always environmentally preferable and should be considered fi rst, if the objective is to deliver the best environmental performance. They are usually the most cost eff ective approaches as well: 1. Reduce – reduce the amount of waste created through waste minimisation initiatives. 2. Reuse – reuse waste and thus avoid energy consuming reprocessing. 3. Recycle – reprocess waste for further use. 4. Energy recovery – generate energy from waste using a variety of technologies. 5. Disposal – put waste in landfi ll sites.

16 recycled, can be easily recycled again many times over, and fi ts into established waste streams. Tip 2: Ensure your serveware and the way you segregate waste on- site fi t with locally-available waste processing facilities Sustainable event consultant Meegan Jones, who set up the systems at Latitude, says this is the fi rst thing she teaches in waste management training for festivals. Understanding what happens to waste when it leaves the event gates is crucial when choosing packaging and waste What organisers can do: system options. Develop a clear and concise waste Tip 1: Switch to recyclable or Tip 3: Ban sachet portions, plastic management plan. The WRAP compostable/biodegradable, and polystyrene Event Resource Management Plan sustainably-produced serveware Croissant Neuf have banned tool can help you to do this1. Croissant Neuf requires, sachet portions, plastic and Understand your waste. Consider with a non-negotiable policy, polystyrene. what types and quantities of that all serveware must be Tip 4: Provide stall holders with waste are going to be produced either compostable or be ‘real’ a selection of approved recylable at the festival - for example: food, crockery and cutlery that is or compostable/bio-degradable or construction, glass, wood, textiles, washed up and reused by the otherwise sustainable serveware cooking oil, metal, plastic, tents. caterer on-site. retailers. Conduct waste audits before, during and aft er your event to get At Bestival, all food and drink At London Green Fair, all a bett er understanding of when stalls are expected to only use catering stallholders are the diff erent waste types are biodegradable or compostable expected to use compostable produced and what is required to cups, glasses, knives and forks. packaging purchased from manage them bett er in future. Polystyrene is a defi nite no. approved retailers. The disposal facilities and their Latitude requires that all food availability will aff ect how the packaging, including plates, waste collection system operates. bowls, cups, containers and Compostable vs Research what waste management cutlery are compostable. biodegradable facilities are near to the festival. The Glastonbury Festival Food stalls should collect waste oil – What’s the composts between 150 to 200 in sealed drums for recycling into tonnes of food waste each diff erence? bio-diesel and pallets should be festival, the majority being Compostable = biodegrad- taken away by the supplier. biodegradable packaging. 50 to able, but fast. The term ‘com- Work with your stallholders. 75 tonnes is actual food waste, postable’ means that in the Contracts with stallholders can the majority of that being pre- right conditions, disposable include the responsibility to customer waste (i.e. direct packaging can biodegrade manage waste properly (with from the food vendor). in under 12 weeks, together penalties for non-compliance), The experience of the festival with food waste. If packag- prohibit certain materials such recycling industry at larger ing is only biodegradable, it as some disposable items, events has been that compostable may not break down quickly and require the use of correct cornstarch cups, whilst being a enough to be included in packaging materials that can be well-intentioned and very public food waste recycling. Aft er recycled or composted (ensure measure to reduce plastics, can all, a log cabin is biodegrada- any biodegradable packaging impact negatively on recycling ble but can stand for genera- used is accepted by the waste rates, as audiences continue to tions. Ask to see a packag- contractor and composting be confused whether they go ing supplier’s independent facility). Provide training to stall into compost or plastic recycling compostability certifi cation managers and ensure they relay bins. For this reason Shambala from BPI, OK Compost or the information to all of their sta . ff recommends rPET – which is DinCertco.

1. htt p://rmp.wrap.org.uk/login.php 17 Tip 5: Use reusable cups and cup Tip 7: Highlight food waste as an deposit systems issue Reduce the boozer’s waste Festival organisers can make stream and get rid of plastic pint sure there are organisations rubbish at your festival. Switch to and activities at the event that reusable cups! highlight and address the issue of food waste. Reading/Leeds Festival has introduced an eff ective cup Shambala is working with deposit system. the waste food collection and  The reusable cup distribution charity Fareshare distributor, the Incredible to provide a gourmet café Cup Company, charges using solely waste foods to nothing to participating demonstrate how much edible festivals. They make a food is thrown away. profi t from people paying Tip 8: Organise an on-site the deposit then taking the wholesaler that supplies cups home as souvenirs packaging that meets your  The cups can be reused serveware standards in terms up to 100 times, and at of being recyled/recyclable,

the end of their lives the compostable/biodegradable or I

company recycles them into otherwise sustainable. BE D N

E household piping. S At Latitude, SFWF - the on- P I R Poco Loco  Latitude switched to a cup site wholesaler - and Pronto deposit system, with a The Poco Loco and Poco Packaging ensure suitable Morocco food stalls, run by £3 deposit refundable on packaging is supplied on-site. return. chef and food-waste pioneer All food stalls must serve food Thomas Hunt and appearing  Shambala charges a 10p in compostable packaging. at various festivals, have the deposit on each drink from Sunrise Festival has a ambitious aim of producing its bars. By bringing the wholesaler on-site that zero waste. At present they cup back you get a 10p supplies traders with produce about an ice-cream discount on the next drink. Sunrise-certifi ed compostable tub of rubbish a day, use local This is a departure from disposables and compostable suppliers to each event so that similar initiatives because bags. more food can be ordered if the it saves the need for cash festival is busy, avoiding the London Green Fair is looking handling and accounting need to over-order, and if there at ge ing a sponsor for of thousands of 10p pieces, tt is any surplus at the end of the branded corn-starch catering and no need to secure festival, sauces are made out containers and cutlery, with the cups as they have no of fresh vegetables and meat is festival information on them, monetary value in their frozen for the next event. own right or in multiples. which traders would have to buy from the festival Tip 6: Litt er-bond systems organisers at cost price. Festival organisers can charge traders an initial litt er bond that is refunded if the area around the food stall is free of litt er and waste aft er the event closes. London Green Fair charges a £20 refundable litt er bond. Sunrise Festival runs a ‘Clean Trader’ bond of between £50-200, which is returned if the trader has adhered to the policy and left their pitch clean to the satisfaction of the Markets Manager.

18 “Having waste advisors Bin tips next to bins dramatically To reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfi ll, an reduces the huge cost of the increasingly expensive and unsustainable option: post festival clean-up. It works out cheaper to pay Reduce the time and money required to separate advisers beforehand than to festival rubbish aft er it has been thrown out by deal with the consequences festival-goers, by delegating staff or volunteers to of not having them.” act as waste advisors at your recycling stations. Barney Crockford, Thames Use diff erent colour bins and apertures for diff erent Festival, London materials, and lockable lids. Locating recycling bins next to refuse bins can help reduce contamination. Have information on or near to the bins briefl y describing the scheme and what is happening to the waste material, i.e. where 93% it is being taken and what of festival happens to it, as well as goers would be some information on the willing to separate environmental benefi ts of their waste into collecting and processing it. diff erent bins. Include this information on websites, brochures and tickets.

Post-festival Salvage Operations Reduce overall waste (food, site infrastructure, and packaging) and make use of usable items left behind post festival. One festival estimated 25% of campsite waste headed to landfi ll was comprised of abandoned tents. Invite charities on-site to make use of the post-festival waste stream.  Leeds Festival has involved charities in post festival salvaging: www.everythingispossible.eu. For example, Shipley and Baildon scout group salvaged camping gear at Leeds Festival in 2011, and the charity St. George’s Crypt salvaged non- perishable food items. Hire an organisation to manage the clean-up for you. Festival Green has the capacity to manage the recycling and post-festival salvage at the largest festivals in the UK: www.festivalgreen.org  Shambala was inspired by Fusion Festival in Germany to charge a £10 recycling deposit to all ticket buyers, having found that 70% of waste comes from campsites, and that this is the area of lowest recycling rates. When festival-goers return recycling they receive the £10 back in cash.

19 Making sure your sustainability eff orts are… sustainable!

Make sure that the time and eff ort you put into adopting a sustainable food policy has an impact and that it lasts. What organisers can do: Audit your traders on food sticking to the festivals food Association (NCASS), to and waste. sustainability standards. the traders who do the  At Latitude, a waste  At Waveform, organisers most to help make the audit is carried out to have established a team of festival greener, fairer and measure volumes recycled, ‘eco-rangers’ - individuals more sustainable. composted and going to who circulate around Off er discounted pitch fees landfi ll. the site talking to traders for the following year to  Sunrise organises an audit and making sure they are vendors meeting or exceeding concentrating on trader sticking to their promises. sustainability targets. sustainability. Award traders that are  Traders working with  Shambala works with the meeting or exceeding your Shambala are assessed supply chain that supports festival’s sustainability targets. every year. The very best the festival, requiring  For several years, gets the Green Trader contractors and traders to Glastonbury has run Award and 50% off the complete questionnaires the Green Trader following year’s pitch fee. and comply with a Awards, presented by Provide traders who are sustainability checklist in Glastonbury, Greenpeace, sourcing sustainable foods order to tender. The Soil Association, The with a certifi cate, displayed Employ a team of individuals Fairtrade Foundation for all festival-goers to see. to circulate the festival and and Nationwide Caterers ensure that food vendors are

20 How can festival organisers identify a sustainable trader? Most traders who incorporate sustainable food principles into their dishes will sell themselves on this basis and are more likely to have a history of trading at festivals where sustainability is a fundamental part of the festival agenda. But there are a few other ways to fi nd out. 1. Give yourself plenty of time to fi nd out about the ethical credentials of your existing caterers, or businesses new to you that are applying for a stall. Issue a checklist such as the template at the back of this guide (adapted to your own needs) to vet your caterers in advance. 2. Highlight to your caterers, or those applying for concessions, any food issues that you are particularly interested in addressing that year (e.g. food waste, Fairtrade, British meat, sustainable fi sh). Ask them to tell you how they will make special eff orts on this theme, and how they can help you to communicate this to festival-goers, suppliers and the media. 3. Ask the trader for references, awards, public pledges, independent reviews, press articles, work with charities or conservation groups, or other evidence of their commitment to food ethics and sustainability. This will also help to raise the status of award schemes run by other festivals, creating a supportive culture of recognition for festival organisers’ and stallholders’ good work on sustainability. 4. Check to see if caterers have been rated by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. The Sustainable Restaurant Association has started rating mobile caterers. Restaurants and caterers are examined in 14 key areas across three main sustainability categories – Sourcing, Environment and Society. There are three potential ratings: One Star, Two Star and Three Star Sustainability Champion. Mobile caterers who have successfully achieved Sustainability Champion status include Squid and Pear and Ethical Chef. www.thesra.org 5. Check to see if traders have completed the sustainability training course designed specifi cally for mobile caterers created by The Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS). In response to requests from several large festivals for a minimum standard for stalls they are booking, the Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) and Sustainable Restaurant Association have created a City & Guilds accredited training course in sustainability for mobile caterers. The course covers sustainable sourcing, social responsibility and environmental practices. Participating businesses gain a nationally recognised City & Guilds accreditation for mobile caterer staff and management, valid for three years. www.ncass.org.uk

21 Communications

Get the word out about the good food and drink initiatives happening at your event!

Consumers are asking more questions than ever before about what they are eating - from the calorie and nutritional content, through to provenance and ethics of ingredients - and having food at your festival or event that meets their expectations can be an important selling point. So if you’re doing great things, make sure you tell your festival-goers about them. Communication tips: Use the festival website and programme to communicate the achievements of stallholders who are going the extra mile to provide local and sustainable food and drink. Encourage your traders to use blackboards and other signage to explain to festival-goers where their ingredients come from and why their ethical credentials are important. Explore making links with a local food writer or blogger, and ask them to come and report on the good food stories from your event. In 2011, Rachel Wallace, who writes about green issues, reported on green, ethical, local, organic and Fairtrade initiatives at Glastonbury:. www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/green-blog-2011. Award your traders when they meet or exceed your sustainability standards. Make the awards system more accessible by having a ‘most improved’ award to motivate traders to make changes, as, for example, Shambala does. Consider producing a guide to the green stalls at your event. Glastonbury has produced a ‘climate-friendly’ organic food guide, which included outlets serving local and organic food and drink. Get recognised by A Greener Festival, with its comprehensive sustainability award scheme (see back page of this Guide).

Julie’s Bicycle Sustainable Julie’s Bicycle is a not-for-profi t organisation that works with Event organisations across the music, arts and creative industries to Management: A improve their environmental sustainability. It provides a number Practical Guide of resources and services for festivals including the IG tools, free online carbon calculators that can help festivals understand the This book, writt en by green event carbon emissions that result from their waste, energy, water and guru and Director of Green Shoot travel (htt p://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/ig-tools). Julie’s Pacifi c Meegan Jones, is a guide Bicycle also off ers a certifi cation programme ‘Industry Green’ to producing festivals, concerts, (www.juliesbicycle.com/industry-green), which audits a festival’s conferences and all sort of events environmental performance, covering energy, waste, water and sustainably, which highlights travel, and gives an IG certifi cation of one to three stars to show tried-and-tested methods used staff , suppliers, artists and audiences that the event is committ ed across the event industry. The to going green. The organisation also runs a number of industry- website below has details on facing campaigns, such as Powerful Thinking, which focuses on the book and where to buy it, boosting the market for renewable power provision to festivals - and lots of useful resources. an issue which festival traders can have a signifi cant impact on. Meegan is also President of the Sustainable Event Alliance, www.juliesbicycle.com an industry association for events organisers working on sustainable event management. www.greeneventbook.com www.sustainable-event-alliance.org

22 Appendix 1 Food Sustainability Checklist for Traders

1. Meat, poultry, dairy and eggs

We are keen to support British farmers working to higher animal welfare and environmental standards. Please tell us below how you will help us meet this aim.

Food type What we’re looking for What you plan to Any further steps you serve at our event are taking in this area Chicken British free range and/or RSPCA Freedom and other Food and/or certifi ed organic poultry Minimum: British Red Tractor Eggs British free range and/or RSPCA Freedom Food and/or certifi ed organic Minimum: British, cage free Pork British free range/outdoor reared and/or RSPCA and pork Freedom Food and/or certifi ed organic products Minimum: British Red Tractor Beef British, from animals that have access to pasture (grass-fed), organic where possible Minimum: British Red Tractor Lamb & British, from animals that have access to pasture mutt on (grass-fed), certifi ed organic where possible Minimum: British Red Tractor Dairy British, certifi ed organic dairy products products (exceptions made for speciality products) Minimum: British, certifi ed organic milk; other dairy products made from British milk Please tell us below about any other meat you use, or anything else you are doing to support British farmers working to higher animal welfare and environmental standards.

2. Fish & seafood

We are keen to serve only verifi ably sustainable fi sh and other seafood. Please tell us below how you will help us meet this aim.

Food type What we’re looking for What you plan to Any further steps you serve at our event are taking in this area Fish & Only fi sh on Marine Conservation Society’s seafood ‘fi sh to eat’ list www.fi shonline.org/ fi sh-advice/eat - which includes Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certifi ed fi sh (www.msc.org) Minimum: Exclude all species on the Marine Conservation Society’s ‘fi sh to avoid’ list. www.fi shonline.org/fi sh-advice/avoid Sign the Sustainable Fish City pledge (www.sustainablefi shcity.net): Yes No Please tell us below about anything else you are doing to ensure that the fi sh and seafood you serve is sustainable.

23 3. Fruit & vegetables

We are keen to serve fresh, seasonal and local food that has been produced in an environmentally friendly way. Please tell us below how you will help us meet this aim.

Food type What we’re looking for What you plan to Any further steps you serve at our event are taking in this area Fruit & British, seasonal, organic or LEAF-Marque vegetables* produce Minimum: British, seasonal fruit and veg always used in preference to out-of-season produce. Please tell us below about anything else you are doing to serve local, seasonal and/or environmentally friendly fruit and veg (such as LEAF-Marque certifi ed or organic).

*Note: we would like tropical fruit (for example, bananas that cannot be grown in the UK) to be Fairtrade certifi ed – see section 4 below.

4.Other products

We are keen to support artisan producers of traditional and speciality products. We are also keen to support farmers in developing countries with fair prices for the food they produce. Please tell us below how you will help us meet this aim. Please include information on products served direct (e.g. sugar for tea and coff ee) as well as ingredients in the food you make or serve (e.g. sugar in cakes).

Food type What we’re looking for What you plan to Any further steps you serve at our event are taking in this area Bread Products with The Real Bread Loaf Mark (or at least matching the Real Bread Campaign's basic defi nition), baked by a small independent bakery as local to the venue as possible: www.realbreadcampaign.org Baked Flour used for baked products, e.g. bread, cakes, products pastry, milled from locally (or at least UK) grown grain, preferably by a local, independent mill: www.tcmg.org.uk Beer, cider Products meeting the Campaign for Real Ale's and perry defi nitions: www.camra.org.uk/aboutale www.camra.org.uk/cider Coff ee Fairtrade certifi ed Tea Fairtrade certifi ed Sugar Fairtrade certifi ed Chocolate & Fairtrade certifi ed cocoa Bananas / Fairtrade certifi ed other tropical fruit Please tell us below about other ethically traded products you serve or use, or other products from artisan or speciality producers.

24 5. Disposables*

We want waste to be minimised as far as possible, to make food waste management easier, and to avoid gett ing plastics mixed up with food waste. Please tell us below how you will help us meet this aim.

Product type What we’re looking for What you plan to Any further steps you serve at our event are taking in this area Plates Compostable Minimum: Biodegradable Containers Compostable Minimum: Biodegradable Cups Compostable Minimum: Biodegradable Cutlery Compostable Minimum: Biodegradable Please tell us below about any other measures you take to reduce waste or conserve resources.

*Note to organisers: If the festival operates a waste reduction scheme, e.g. ‘bring your own’, ‘refi llable bott le’ or ‘container deposit’, or specifi es or bans certain types of materials, this section may have to be adapted to suit your needs.

25 Appendix 2

Useful contacts

Food Sustainable Fish and The Fairtrade Foundation Sustain Seafood The Fairtrade Foundation is The alliance for better food The Marine Stewardship an independent non-profi t and farming, which advocates Council organisation that licenses use food and agriculture policies The Marine Stewardship Council of the FAIRTRADE Mark on and practices that enhance the (MSC) promotes sustainable products in the UK in accordance health and welfare of people and seafood practices and sets with internationally-agreed animals, improve the working standards for sustainable fi shing Fairtrade standards. and living environment, promote and seafood traceability. They www.fairtrade.org.uk equity and enrich society and culture. Sustain runs several aim to increase the availability of certifi ed sustainable seafood and LEAF projects and campaigns, use their distinctive blue eco-label LEAF stands for Linking Farming including: to inform customers of certifi ed and the Environment. The LEAF . Ethical Eats (www. products. Marque is a food label used to ethicaleats.org), which helps www.msc.org indicate produce has been grown caterers in and around London to improve the by farmers who take extra care to The Marine Conservation Society sustainability of their food protect the environment. A UK charity aimed at protecting . Food Legacy (www. www.leafuk.org the seas, shores and wildlife. foodlegacy.org), which The Marine Conservation promotes healthy and RSPCA Freedom Food Society campaigns for better sustainable catering Freedom Food is the RSPCA’s ocean protection, and for more nationally, inspired by the farm assurance and food labelling sustainable seafood choices London 2012 Food Vision scheme. It is the only UK farm through its Good Fish Guide, . Sustainable Fish City (www. assurance scheme to focus solely which provides the defi nitive ‘fi sh sustainablefi shcity.net), on improving the welfare of farm to eat’ and ‘fi sh to avoid’ lists that which helps caterers – large animals reared for food. are very useful when specifying and small – to adopt fully www.rspca.org.uk/freedomfood what fi sh you would like to sustainable fi sh policies see included or excluded from www.sustainweb.org Red Tractor catering contracts. The Red Tractor quality mark is www.mcsuk.org a product certifi cation program Alcoholic drinks comprising a number of farm Sustainable Fish City The Campaign for Real Ale assurance schemes for food Sustainable Fish City is (CAMRA) products, animal feed and organised by a partnership of CAMRA runs a LocAle fertiliser, assuring food quality conservation and sustainable accreditation scheme for pubs and food safety. food organisations. The goal which sell locally-sourced beer www.redtractor.org.uk is to make London the fi rst and similar principles apply with ever Sustainable Fish City and festivals. Find your local CAMRA The Soil Association to show what can be done if branch and get practical advice people and organisations make UK-based membership charity on running a festival that serves a concerted effort to change their campaigning for healthy, humane real ale (including sourcing, buying habits. The campaign and sustainable food, farming storage and cooling for the beer), is increasingly interested in and land use. Runs the UK’s and for recommendations on spreading the good work beyond leading certifi cation scheme for which local breweries would be London, so please get in touch. organic produce. best placed to supply beer www.soilassociation.org www.camra.org.uk/locale. www.sustainablefi shcity.net www.camra.org.uk/branches.

26 Catering and Waste with its local food waste collection Restaurant Fareshare services. Email your postcode and Nationwide Caterers A national UK charity supporting telephone number to recycle@ Association (NCASS) communities to relieve food foodwastenetwork.org.uk and NCASS provides services to poverty. The charity addresses they’ll hook you up. A free web- start-ups and catering companies these issues in three ways: based service is planned in 2012. helping with legal compliance, Providing quality food - surplus www.vegware.com/news/?p=732 fi nding work and providing ‘fi t for purpose’ product from tools for starting and running a the food and drink industry – PlanZheroes successful catering business. to organisations working with PlanZheroes has developed an www.ncass.org.uk disadvantaged people in the online, interactive map to link up community; Providing training and organisations who can donate Sustainable Restaurant education around the essential surplus food with those who really Association life skills of safe food preparation need it. The Plan Zheroes map is The Sustainable Restaurant and nutrition, and warehouse freely available, via the internet and Association is a not for profi t employability training through mobile phones, to anyone in London membership organization. They FareShare’s Eat Well Live Well who is able to help divert surplus work towards helping restaurants programme; and Promoting the food to those who need it. They become more sustainable and message that ‘No Good Food aim to help supermarkets, caterers, diners make more informed and Should Be Wasted’. restaurants, schools, and hospitals to sustainable decisions when www.fareshare.org.uk give food to local charities. eating out. They can help with www.planzheroes.org sustainable food sourcing, Feeding the 5,000 managing resources more A partnership between farmers WRAP effi ciently and working locally and environmental charities A government-funded group that campaign for better use working with a wide range of www.thesra.org of surplus food - FareShare, partners - businesses, trade FoodCycle, Love Food Hate bodies, local authorities and Waste and Friends of the Earth, individuals on preventing and Water organised by food waste expert reducing waste. Responsible and author Tristram Stuart. for the Love Food Hate Waste Give me tap Organises demonstrations using awareness campaign. Give me tap aims to make water food that would otherwise be www.wrap.org.uk easily accessible while ending wasted to cook free meals for www.lovefoodhatewaste.com the unnecessary use of plastic- the public, and encourages bottled water. Profi ts from their individuals and businesses to reusable stainless steel bottle pledge to reduce their waste. help to fund independent water www.feeding5k.org projects in Africa. Healthy eating www.givemetap.org Healthier Catering Commitment FoodCycle Practical and low-cost advice on Tapwater.org Combines volunteers, surplus healthier catering is set out in the Tapwater.org is a not-for-profi t food and a free kitchen space to Healthier Catering Commitment, organisation promoting the create nutritious meals for people promoted by the Chartered drinking of tap water in the UK. affected by food poverty in the Institute of Environmental Health. They aim to reduce the use of UK, and positive social change in The advice and standards are expensive and environmentally the community. freely available to download at: damaging bottled waters, by www.foodcycle.org.uk www.cieh.org/healthier-catering- making it easy and convenient commitment.html. for you to access free tap water The Food Waste Network. wherever you are through A new free service helping UK Healthy Food Guidelines promotion of refi lling stations, caterers fi nd their ideal food waste Advice on cooking and serving with a bold aim of one every 400 recycling services. The Food healthier food is also provided in metres in urban areas. Waste Network provides a single chapter 7 of Sustain’s Sustainable source of information on recycling www.tapwater.org Food Guidelines, downloadable services for food waste, with at: www.sustainweb.org/pdf/SFG_ information on collection services Catering.pdf. and on-site recycling systems. Any UK business can get linked up

27 Allergy information Culturally and For food allergies, training is religiously appropriate particularly important to help avoid triggering serious conditions such foods as anaphylaxis, which can be For Jewish customers life-threatening. Online allergy A very useful summary document training is published by the Food was recently produced for the Standards Agency (see below). Scottish food industry, which is The Anaphylaxis Campaign has applicable across the UK, see: also produced a useful allergy risk www.scotlandfoodanddrink. assessment for caterers to work org/site/guide_doc/Kosher%20 through with staff, see: Food%20in%20the%20UK.pdf , www.sustainweb.org/resources/ which also lists many suppliers of fi les/other_docs/Food_Allergies_ Kosher compatible products. For Risk_Assessment_model_2012. suppliers in and around London, pdf visit the London Beth Din website: www.kosher.org.uk Food Standards Agency The Food Standards Agency For Muslim customers (FSA) has developed online food Find out more about Halal meat, allergy training materials. The site standards and suppliers from covers food intolerances, food the Halal Food Authority, www. allergy facts and an introduction to halalfoodauthority.co.uk, and the legal issues on the subject. See: European Halal Development http://allergytraining.food.gov.uk/ Agency: www.ehda.co.uk/page.aspx?id=33 The FSA also publishes helpful answers to common questions The Vegetarian Society from caterers on allergy and Offers a range of advice and intolerance, see: www.food.gov. resources for caterers: uk/safereating/allergyintol/guide/ www.vegsoc.org/page. caterers/ - including guidance aspx?pid=510 on how to provide allergen information, for caterers selling The Vegan Society food that is not pre-packed (as Offers help to restaurants, is the case for most catering): hotels, universities and other www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/ catering establishments: www. guidancenotes/labelregsguidance/ vegansociety.com/caterers/ nonprepacked In addition, the website Faith and Food gives insights to the food preferences of a range of religions: www.faithandfood.com

28 food legacy Appendix 3 Inspired by the London 2012 Food Vision Food Legacy pledge

Food Legacy aims to inspire, inform and provide links to practical assistance, to help more caterers, restaurants, hospitality and events organisers achieve the ambitions of the London 2012 Food Vision. By signing this pledge, organisations are promising to help make that vision a reality. Working together, we can transform the food system to be safer, healthier and more sustainable, for the benefi t of everyone.

By signing the Food Legacy pledge, our company or organisation is promising to take the appropriate steps to promote health and sustainability, inspired by the food standards set out in the London 2012 Food Vision. The aim is to help improve the health of the customers we serve and to support a more ethical and sustainable food system. Specifi cally we pledge to take the following steps: Step 1 – State our commitment: Tell our customers and the public that we are developing and implementing a healthy and sustainable food policy, within a specifi ed timeframe, for the benefi t of people and the planet. Step 2 – Gather information: Assess and monitor the safety, traceability, healthiness and sustainability of the food we buy and sell. Step 3 – Make a plan to serve food that is safe, healthy and sustainable, addressing the issues set out on the Food Legacy pledge page (www.foodlegacy.org), with specifi c commitments to serve healthier food, and to buy and promote British and seasonal food, farm assured produce, free-range eggs, Fairtrade certifi ed products, demonstrably sustainable fi sh and a growing proportion of food produced to verifi ably higher standards of animal welfare and environmental protection. Also to adopt a food waste reduction strategy and to promote good food training, covering health and sustainability, for all relevant staff . Specifi c commitments will vary depending on the size and type of business, agreed in discussion with the Food Legacy programme. Step 4 – Implement the plan: Set dates by which changes will be achieved and how they will be measured, and communicate this to staff . Measure and report publicly on progress, and review and improve periodically in response to new sustainability information and new options and products. Step 5 – Communicate clearly: Spread the message with our customers, clients, supplier(s) and employees and other key stakeholders about healthy and sustainable food. Step 6 – Infl uence wider progress: Support positive change for a healthy and sustainable food system, using our infl uence to encourage others to join the Food Legacy journey.

Name (please print): ......

Organisation: ......

Job title: ...... Date: ......

Food Legacy is a programme coordinated by Sustain (charity 1018643) and supported by the Mayor of London, the London Food Board, London Food Link, New Covent Garden Market Authority and many others, see the website for details. Return this pledge to: The Food Legacy programme, Sustain, 94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF; tel: 020 7837 1228; [email protected]

www.foodlegacy.org FOOD LEGACY, inspired by the London 2012 Food Vision, aims to help more caterers, restaurants, hospitality and events organisers – in the private and public sectors – to achieve the ambitions of the London 2012 Food Vision. Working together, we can transform the food system to be safer, healthier and more sustainable, for the benefi t of everyone. You can fi nd a copy of the Food Legacy 2012 pledge on page 18 of these guidelines

Contact: Melissa Hayles, Food Legacy coordinator food legacy Sustain: the alliance for bett er food and farming Inspired by the London 2012 Food Vision 94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF tel: 020 7837 1228; email: [email protected] www.foodlegacy.org

ETHICAL EATS is a network of London restaurants and catering businesses that care about sustainability. We help businesses to identify practical steps towards becoming more sustainable, share their experiences of doing so, and promote their good work. We organise workshops tackling slippery issues such as sustainable fi sh and food waste, and run ‘meet the producer’ events and visits to local farms.

Contact: Kelly Parsons, Ethical Eats project offi cer Sustain: the alliance for bett er food and farming 94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF Ethical eats tel: 020 7837 1228; email: [email protected] www.ethicaleats.org

A GREENER FESTIVAL is a not-for-profi t company, established in 2006, committ ed to helping music and arts events and festivals around the world adopt environmentally effi cient practices. AGF provides information, education resources, training, and facilitates the exchange of good ideas. AGF’s website provides free information about how environmentally effi cient methods are currently being employed at music and arts festivals, and how negative impact of festivals on the environment can be limited and reduced. AGF created the leading international green event award “A Greener Festival Award” in 2007, which assesses and accredits festivals on their environmental performance. The award assesses the management, waste, water, power, land and noise impact of events and the practical measures taken to minimise any adverse eff ects. Recognised as “The international standard for environmentally effi cient music festivals” the Green Festival Awards operate in 5 continents managed by local volunteers, and now assesses over 50 festivals globally each year. AGF initiatives include the “Great Big Green Ideas” audience competition organised with The Big Issue, “Festival Wood”, a reforestation project managed by Trees for Life in Scotland, ongoing audience research with Bucks New University, a discount insurance scheme for green events provided by Robertson Taylor insurance brokers, support for the ‘Love Your Tent’ campaign to reduce left behind tents and the annual Green Events & Innovations conference organised by A Greener Festival in London.

Contact: [email protected] www.agreenerfestival.com