Welcome to… The FlavUOR Garden!

At The University of Reading, we are constantly striving to find sustainable practices to achieve our target of being Net Zero Carbon by 2030. By introducing an area to grow our own herbs, plants, and ingredients we strive to educate our students and guests on what goes into our delicious meals. Studies have shown growing your own herbs can encourage outdoor exercise alongside being a natural stress reliever. This is a student led and University funded sustainable food project with the intention to educate students on the value of using herbs as a cheap and healthy source of flavour, which we can then integrate into our kitchens.

This project is in line with the University’s vision for encouraging sustainable practices, and what better way to do that by encouraging eco-friendly activity and healthy eating. You will be able to view how we use our ingredients first hand in our brand-new installation ‘The Cook Nook’ – see how our restaurant grade chefs use what we have grown to elevate the quality and flavour within our dishes. It’s no secret that locally grown food has more nutritional value as well as tasting better due to spending less time in transit from farm to plate, and therefore, loses fewer nutrients and incurs less spoilage.

We feel it’s important to educate our students on growing food as it increases both local and global environmental awareness on a wide range of issues, including water conservation, composting, global environmental issues, sustainability, and recycling. We want to reinforce a connection with nature, and what better place to start than right here on their doorstep.

Want to get involved?

Please email: barsanddining@reading.ac.uk