Three years ago we wrote about Yale University’s Sustainable Food Project (SFP), as an example of how using student interest in social issues and trying to address a specific topic could also help attract and retain students.

When Yale started the SFP, many saw it as a marketing gimmick. Seven years after the initial pilot at Berkeley College, due to student demand the project has been embraced by all of Yale’s colleges.

It has even moved beyond Connecticut with links as far away as Spain and Japan. The SFP has even managed to create links with Italy’s Slow Food Movement and the United Nations who used them to ‘act as a consultant in exploring the possibility of a creating its own sustainable dining program’.

Yale’s success shows just how powerful cause-related marketing initiatives can be in higher education.

• www.yale.edu/sustainablefood