Queen’s Hospitality Services win Human Rights Initiative Award

QHS awarded for inclusive and sustainable dining practices on campus

Image supplied by: Queen's University
The award was given out on May 6.

Inclusivity and sustainability are at the top of the Queen’s Hospitality Service’s (QHS) agenda.

QHS received the Human Rights Initiative Award for their commitment to sustainability, and representation of equity-deserving groups’ dietary restrictions at the University. They received the award at the Employment Equity Forum hosted by the Queen’s Human Rights and Equity Office, and the Office of the Vice-Principal (Culture, Equity, and Inclusion) on May 6.

This year, providing sustainable food options to students from various cultural backgrounds was a priority for Theresa Couto, Queen’s wellness and sustainability manager.

Couto aims to support students who follow a kosher diet through direct communication with them. Students who follow a kosher diet abstain from consuming pork and shellfish, and don’t eat meat and dairy products in the same meal.

The first step for Couto was learning what accommodations Kosher students need. She did
this by speaking to individual students to learn what type of accommodations they’d require. There are varying degrees of keeping kosher and therefore varying degrees of support students need, Couto said in an interview with The Journal.

Jon Moyal, Sci ’26, had trouble maintaining his Kosher diet due to limited options available on campus. While there are select proteins with Kosher certification available at dining halls across campus, students must call in advance so the kitchen can prepare them.

“When I came to Queen’s in 2021, I tried to follow the same [Kosher] diet and I found myself falling off of it,” Moyal said in a statement to The Journal.

Last year during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, students echoed Moyal’s sentiments and had to find kosher foods off-campus due to the limited availability on campus.  Since then, QHS has been forthcoming about their kitchen’s limitations and will work collaboratively with Jewish students to find kosher food accommodations, Couto explained.

To accommodate those who observe Ramadan—an Islamic month that involves fasting and prayers—QHS worked with the Muslim Student Association this year to develop a pick-and-pack model so students could choose their own food to pack and bring back to their rooms.

Next year, QHS will offer food items for Persian New Year, following a request made by a residence don. Couto’s team is always looking for new opportunities to support students.

The Providing Equal Access, Changing Hunger (PEACH) Market and Swipe it Forward (SIF) program helped provide affordable food options to Queen’s students this year.

The SIF program allows students to donate meal swipes they aren’t using to students facing food insecurity. Couto looks for this type of peer-to-peer engagement wherever possible.

The PEACH Market brings leftover untouched food from Queen’s dining halls and provides it to students who may be facing food insecurity.

Another sustainability initiative that won QHS the award was the Good to Go Reusable Container Initiative. The initiative encourages students to reduce their waste by charging $0.75 fee for single-use containers, increasing sustainability. The initiative expanded to include a $0.35 single-use cup on May 1.

Continuing their sustainable initiatives, QHS will continue to bring an inclusive and sustainable perspective to dining and hospitality and are grateful their initiatives were awarded.

“This [the award] was recognition that our actions and our words are aligned and that the services we are providing are really serving a need in the [Queen’s] community,” Couto said.

Tags

dining halls, human rights, Sustainability

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