How sustainable is a university food environment? Barriers and opportunities from a Mexican campus

Purpose This study aims to develop and apply a novel framework to assess the sustainability of university food environments. Using the National Autonomous University (UNAM) Campus as a case study, the authors move beyond standardize rankings to provide contextual diagnostic that identifies barriers and opportunities. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a framework integrating socio-ecological system theory with sustainability principles, structured around four dimensions: food access, beef consumption, policy and management and community. This framework was applied through a mixed-method approach, analyzing institutional data, cafeteria menus and interviews with concessionaires across 23 campus cafeterias. Findings The application at UNAM revealed gaps in food system governance and equity. Key findings include physical and economic inaccessibility of food for the campus community, with cafeterias not meeting demand; socio-economically stratified beef consumption patterns; an implementation gap between formal sustainability policies and on-ground practices; and a food security program reaching only 2% of the student population. Social implications The study identifies systemic barriers to equitable food access at UNAM, including a shortage of cafeterias and food security program reaching only 2% of students. It underlines the need to integrate food infrastructure into campus planning, expand subsidize meals and enforce affordability policies to improve equity, offering a model for other public universities. Originality/value This framework combines socio-ecological system theory with sustainability principles to analyze university food environments. It offers a context-sensitive diagnostic tool that reveals socioeconomic and infrastructural barriers present in the Global South.