I often refer to my time in Cambridge as a constant attempt to 'drink water from the hose'. The academic environmental is often overwhelming. Everything is happening everywhere, all the time.
Your professors might be drafting new environmental policies for the EU, or writing a UN report on the world biodiversity crisis. Yet, the university is far from being a role model when it comes to its own environmental policies and practices. And it did not take me long to notice that, and to have the urge to do something about it.
My focus was the impacts of food consumption and production on biodiversity, a theme often explored in the MPhil classes, between unsustainable meals. The contradiction was painful: Cambridge was not following its own advice on how to pursue a low-carbon diet.
Having a good relationships with the catering staff in Homerton College, where I was based, I proposed organizing the first Green Formal Hall ever held in Cambridge. Formal Halls are a bit of a hype. Students and their families love them. They bring on the Harry Potter-like atmosphere, and offer the full experience of what it means to be a student in Cambridge.
The Green Formal was preceded by a seminar with Dr. Ben Phalan and Dr. Chris Sandbrook on the impacts of food production on biodiversity. Students, professors from different departments, and members of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative were present.
After the seminar, they arrived to a Formal Hall in which each table represented a different ecosystem: the seas, the savannas, the tropical forests, and the poles. They had placeholders with information on how a more sustainable diet could help to save species. More than 200 guests attended the event, and the feedback was great. Not only they had enjoyed their low-carbon and sustainable food, but many were interested in organizing Green Formal Halls in their own colleges too.
A dear classmate and friend, Iris Dicke, who helped me to conceptualize and organize the Green Formal in Homerton College, was the first to replicate the idea, and organized a Green Formal Hall in Fitzwilliam College. Since then, at least four other colleges have organized their own Green Formal Halls, including Churchill and Trinity College - one of the most traditional colleges in Cambridge University.
Homerton College coverage on the event can be found at:
https://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/news/food-thought
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