Student success at Food Waste Hackathon

Gather & Gather, catering partner at University of London, was the principal sponsor of the challenge, providing the brief for the day: reframing abundance to reduce food waste. The perception of abundance as desirable with food often leads to over-purchasing, under-valuing food, and ultimately, unnecessary waste. From farms to fridges, over a third of food is lost and we need innovative, interdisciplinary solutions with behaviour change at their core.

Participants were put into mixed teams and were given 5 hours to research, define, develop and deliver their solution to a panel of expert judges working in the food waste sector. Their creative ideas ranged from innovative takeaway packaging solutions, community freezers, personalised ordering systems, and cleverly designed portioning plates.

The winning team, 'THE SCRAP SAVERS', made up of 5 students from different universities (including University of Surrey student Dara Odebode) reimagined how we can use food scraps for snacks. The winners all received a voucher for a meal for 2 at Silo, the world’s first zero-waste restaurant based in Hackney Wick, courtesy of Gather & Gather. 

The event perfectly exampled what can be achieved through inter-university collaboration and bringing students together from across disciplines to come up with creative solutions to pressing global challenges such as food waste.

Find out more about how the University of Surrey is making its catering more sustainable and reducing waste. 

The Food Waste Hackathon covered several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): 

• The hackathon educated students on SDG 2 'Zero Hunger' and SDG 12 'Responsible Consumption and Production'.  The event provided a free and accessible opportunity to learn more about sustainability - SDG 4 'Quality Education'.
• Collaboration with other universities and organisations at the event ensured students had the opportunity to develop innovative food waste solutions - SDG 17 'Partnership for the Goals'.