The team lent their support to Green Action Week in late February, sending excess food from the cafes to be turned into vegan dishes and an Oxford mess dessert served at the three biggest cafes in the Andrew Wiles, Dorothy Hodgkin and Richard Doll buildings. They also promoted the Too Good To Go app, which connects restaurants and cafes with excess food left at the end of the day with people interested in a bargain meal, helping reduce food waste.
The cafes also marked Fairtrade Fortnight between 22 February and 12 March, with the special Fairtrade banana loaf quickly becoming their most popular bakery item, with more than 500 portions sold across Oxford. They have now extended their range of Fairtrade products, adding brands like Lemonaid and Tony's Chocolonely, and customers could earn double YoYo points on any Fairtrade purchases over the period. Watch out for free tasting sessions with Lemonaid in May at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and Old Road Campus cafes!
Finally, Tuesday 14 March - Pi day, so called because the date (3.14) matches the first three digits of the ratio between a circle's perimeter and its diameter - was marked with an extravaganza of pie from squash, chickpea and spinach to lemon meringue.
Some small permanent improvements have also been made in early 2023 - there's now 20p off orders if you bring your reusable cup and reusable food container, and vegetarian and vegan dishes are more clearly labelled on menus.
