Marketing an environmentally sustainable catering model: A case study of medley hall residential college in Victoria, Australia

This chapter presents a novel case study of a diet sustainability model implemented at Medley Hall, an on-campus student accommodation facility at a university in Victoria, Australia. Diet sustainability refers to measures to minimise adverse environmental impacts attributable to food production. A qualitative evaluation of this initiative was conducted during 2016 including interviews with both residents and staff. The results depict a grass-roots initiative that evolved to become a deeply embedded component of organisational identity. Social marketing strategies were employed at multiple governance levels, including: (i) residents, (ii) staff and (iii) college. The evaluation data from this study provides indication of the key drivers of success in motivating consumers (residents) to engage with and embrace diet sustainability interventions and demonstrates the utility of community-based social marketing (CBSM) in informing such initiatives.