Homerton, like other Cambridge colleges, provides catering facilities as well as the self catering facilities in your residential gyp rooms. There is more information available on the Homerton Website for students. All food is paid for at a discounted rate using your CAMCard via the UPAY app where you can top up your balance.

Hall Menu

Hall menus can be found on the Homerton Website under food and drink (see link above)! Please note that catering actually finalises food choices the morning of serving and that food will run out towards the end of service and be replaced by a substitute, so there may be some differences from these menus at time to time! Examples of typical menus are attached at the bottom of this page. Brunch and Roast work on alternating Sundays. To check this, please refer to the Homerton website for the weekly menu or the JCR termcard! Click the links here to see examples of recent lunch and dinner menus: Example Weekly Dinner Menu Example Weekly Lunch Menu

Formal Hall

For undergraduates, Formal Hall runs every Tuesday at 7:30pm in full term – you can book onto these on UPAY. The booking opens on the Monday in the week before at 6pm. Booking for the formal closes on the Friday prior. Swapping of tickets is now unavailable due to CAMcard checking upon arrival at the hall. If refunds are required, please contact the Finance team by email or by visiting their office (above Tutorial Office). Similarly, there are also Semi-Formals that run on Thursdays at 7:30pm. Tickets for the semi formal are also released on UPAY in the week prior. Click the link here to see recent examples of formal menus: Example formal menus

Opening Times

Breakfast

Monday to Friday: 07:30- 09:00

Saturday: 08:00-10:00

Lunch

Monday to Saturday: 12:00 – 14:00

Brunch/Roast

Roast: Every other Sunday: 12:00 – 14:00

Brunch: Every other Sunday: 11:30 – 14:00

Dinner

Monday to Friday: 17:30 – 19:00

Buttery

Monday to Friday: 08:30 – 17:30

Saturday and Sunday: 08:30 – 16:00

Griffin bar

Monday to Sunday: 17:00 – 23:00

Ethical Food Policy

Homerton College Catering Department recognises its responsibility to carry out its procurement activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. As far a possible the department sources its products from local suppliers. (Local being 25 miles radius of Cambridge). These reputable companies have procedures in place that help us manage our purchasing decisions. Andrews Butchers, Cambridge – East Anglian pork, beef & lamb Hilary’s Wholesale, Cambridge – Fruit & Vegetables from Ely Chatteris Lincolnshire and many other local farms. Foodwell Waterbeach, Cambridge – Local grown vegetables Radwinter Wild Game, Saffron Walden – Local game from Duxford Great Shelford Cob’s Bakery Cambridge – Bread made from locally sourced organic flour. As well as using local companies the department also tries to minimize energy usage in food production, storage and transport by careful management and controlling the delivery process. Our suppliers have cut down on the amount of cardboard they use in deliveries The Department as also started to use E- Procurement, in particular for groceries and frozen foods. The college as its own recycling system in place, for cardboard, glass & tins as well as food waste, which is sent off for composting by a local company. Records are kept and monitored. Increased recycling means a reduction in the use of landfill, and this is also recorded and monitored.

Why is my food so expensive?

It’s probably not as bad as you think…

1. Did you pay with your university card?

College actually operates three different prices for each of the food items it sells: one for external customers paying with cash, one for students paying with cash, and a third for students paying with their university card. The cheapest way to buy food is to use your university card, which has EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) functions. You can check what you’ve bought and add more funds using the Upay app.

2. Did you look at the till?

What is displayed on the till isn’t always what you’ve paid! When the cashier types your purchase into the till, it shows the external cash price, which can be quite a bit more than the price you pay with your card. Annoyingly, this cheaper price doesn’t show up until you touch to pay with your card! If in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask how much your meal cost you. The cashiers will be happy to tell you! If you think you have been charged incorrectly, speak to a member of catering staff and they will resolve the issue.

3. Did you know that Homerton doesn’t have a KFC?

We’re not talking Kentucky Fried Chicken here, but a Kitchen Fixed Charge. Almost all colleges operate these, which require students to pay anywhere up to £400 per term to subsidise their food service. Students at such colleges will pay their KFC and not see a penny of it. That money is instead used to make food much cheaper at the point of sale. In fact, recent tables show that Homerton is one of the cheapest colleges to be at. If you ever have a concern about the quality, price, or anything else about your food in college, please use the Contact page and let our Services Officer know. Bare in mind that you can always ask your server if you feel that you didn’t get a fair portion!