The University College Cork Students’ Union (UCCSU) is the chief representative body for students at the university. We advocate for students’ welfare rights, education, and organise events to enhance the student experience both on and off campus. Sustainability is a key priority for us and falls under the responsibility of our Environmental and Sustainability Representative. As part of this commitment, we recently launched our first-ever ‘pop-up pantry’ to help reduce food waste. Additionally, we aim to encourage students to adopt practices that prevent food waste in their own lives.

Throughout February and March, we ran a four-week pilot programme in partnership with FoodCloud. This initiative was made possible through a strong collaboration with UCC’s Green Campus committee, with volunteers primarily drawn from the Green Campus network.

The initiative received overwhelmingly positive feedback from students, providing them with essential ambient pantry staples. Importantly, the pantry complements our existing Food Bank, which provides food stamps to students in need. According to the recent UCCSU Cost of Living report, 27% of students have had to cut back on food expenditure. Free tickets were made available through our ticketing system. These tickets were consistently claimed quickly, demonstrating strong student interest in the initiative and motivating us to develop the pantry further. We are now working towards developing a permanent weekly pantry for establishment in the 2025/26 academic year.

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