Maximum nutrition, minimum waste: ‘Root-to-Tip’ dining

HealthSocietyUniversity

Maximum nutrition, minimum waste: ‘Root-to-Tip’ dining

Despite decades of public health nutrition policies in the UK, most of the population have suboptimal intake of fruit, vegetables, and fibre. In addition, food waste significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and most food waste comes from plant sources.

This project will see the launch of a ‘Living Laboratory’ at King’s, where the project team will develop and test ‘root-to-tip’ recipes that use more of the plant (i.e. peels and stalks).

Academic staff and students will collaborate to design the study researching the positive impact of root-to-tip dining on dietary intake and nutrition, as well as the impact on reducing food waste, through development of unique recipes.

A public communications campaign will engage the King’s community in encouraging a move to plant-based food choices, with findings shared across The Universities Catering Association (TUCO) network and by wider public sector caterers.

"This project brings together researchers and collaborators from across marketing, nutritional science and catering to explore a complex intervention for more sustainable dietary behaviour. We hope that root-to-tip dining will provide a low cost way to work towards higher fibre intakes that can contribute to improved population health, as well as reduce waste and maximise the amount of nutrition we can consume from an individual plant." - Dr Rachel Gibson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Nutritional Sciences

Partners and Collaborators

A network of multidisciplinary partners from across and beyond King's are working together to maximise the impact of the project.

The project collaborators include:

Graeme Collie, Executive Chef, King's Food
Sam Jackson, BSc Nutrition
Eric Wu, Alumni BSc Nutrition and Dietetics 2024

Find out more about the project partners:

King's Business School
King's Department of Biochemistry
King's Department of Nutritional Science
King's Food
The University Caterers Association (TUCO)
Student stakeholders and collaborators

Impact

The proposed impact of the project includes:

Increasing the amount of each plant King’s is using in menu preparation, improving intake of fibre, fruit and vegetables, reducing food waste and reducing use of animal products.
Supporting dietary behaviour changes and shift perceptions about foods by shaping consumers understanding and perceptions of eating more of plants.
Providing caterers with the tools to deliver meals that minimise waste and are acceptable to a wide range of consumers.
Disseminating the findings to TUCO’s community of members, including food suppliers and Higher Education Institutions, leading to better diets and lower environmental impact across the network.

This project is supported by the One King’s Impact Fund.

The One King's Impact Fund is part of One King’s Impact, King’s strategic programme to support and accelerate work within and beyond the University which creates positive change for people, planet and society.

Maximum nutrition, minimum waste: ‘Root-to-Tip’ dining responds to the following Impact Priorities:

Whole life health for mind and body | A thriving and sustainable planet

Project status: Ongoing