The Sustainability Café announces revamped veggie menu

As a result of student feedback, we are pleased to announce that the Sustainability Café menu will now exclusively contain vegetarian and vegan options.

Newly opened in September 2021, the vibrant Sustainability Café has been built using sustainable material choices, including Forest Stewardship Council certified timber and furniture fabric made from upcycled discarded ocean plastics.

The café boasts spectacular views, contemporary indoor and outdoor seating and has now added a revamped menu to its repertoire.

The Food & Drink team at Falmouth actively engages with its suppliers to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations. Fairtrade and South-West suppliers are sourced for bread, milk, cakes, confectionary, fruit and vegetables, whenever possible.

The new Sustainability Café menu has been updated to solely include vegetarian and vegan food options, with increased locally sourced produce - so, what’s new?

Students, staff and campus visitors can now enjoy a slice of vegetarian Homity Pie, Mediterranean Pie or gently spiced Chickpea and Spinach Vegan Pie, baked by Devonshire bakers Peck and Strong. 

Organic vegan and vegetarian soup arrives in the café thanks to Rod and Ben’s in Exeter, who only use locally sourced ingredients. Freshly prepared local Prima rolls also remain available, and will be plated with seasonal salads and crisps.

Visitors can quench their thirst the Cornish way with Jolly’s soft drinks, or enjoy quality Cornish Coffee and Cornish Tregothnan loose leaf teas. A tempting selection of cakes is also available, including vegan options made by The Exploding Bakery in Devon.

Confectionary is covered by Buttermilk vegan chocolate, made locally in Bodmin with sustainable packaging, Fairtrade Divine chocolate and Fairtrade Green & Blacks organic chocolate.

On top of the menu changes, no single-use cups, containers or plastic bottles are available in the Café. Bring your own cup to enjoy a discounted hot drink, or a fresh refill of chilled water from the newly installed machine.

Students and staff will also notice additional sustainable changes on campus. To help minimise plastic wastage, a new sustainable milk refill initiative is now open. Visitors to the Sustainability Café can buy a litre of Cornish Trewithen Dairy semi-skimmed milk in branded glass bottles for £3 with each additional refill costing just £1.10. The Penryn Campus shop also has a dedicated vegan section, and will be sharing vegan recipes throughout the month, both online and in-store - keep your eyes peeled on the food and drink social media for details and offers.

Sustainability Coordinator at Falmouth Jake Causley is thrilled to see the new changes that have been implemented. "Embracing a more plant-based diet has so many benefits; it can improve our health, reduce demand for resources and cut our carbon footprint", Jake told us. "These new changes to the café’s menu are fantastic - they can help us all make a delicious and sustainable change to our everyday behaviour!"

Visitors can share their thoughts on the changes by giving feedback via the kiosks in the dining area.