Bristol City Council is being urged to ban meat and dairy as campaigners say it's 'indisputable we urgently need a major shift away from meat, dairy and fish consumption'.
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A UK council is being urged to ban meat and dairy from all of its city hall events to reduce emissions.
Bristol City Council has faced calls from campaigners to switch to plant-based offerings ahead of new catering contracts next year.
Campaigner Pamela Nowicka said: “It’s a tiny ask but one that promotes social justice and inclusion, not just in Bristol but globally.
“Far from being the preserve of avocado-chomping middle classes, most peasant food is and was mainly plant-based.”
Nowicka added that the move would also save the council money, due to the cheap costs of vegetables and pulses.
She concluded: “This is where Bristol City Council can lead by example, putting aside personal prejudices for the wider good, vital in these times of austerity.”
Fellow campaigner Michaela Andres described the incentive as an ‘amazing opportunity to show climate leadership by stipulating that meals and refreshments supplied are plant-based’.
He added: “This is a real chance for Bristol to lead the way on climate action. It’s indisputable that we urgently need a major shift away from meat, dairy and fish consumption.”
According to the BBC, Deputy mayor Craig Cheney said the council would consider the move.
Councils go plant-based
Earlier this year, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet voted to ensure that food provided at full council meetings and all civic events is entirely plant-based.
Despite backlash from TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, Oxfordshire Council stressed the move wasn’t ‘anti-farmer’.
Pete Sudbury, cabinet member for climate change delivery and environment, said: “Nobody is forcing anything down people’s throats. There are two main justifications for this motion: the health of our planet and the health of our people.
“Oxfordshire’s farmers are part of the solution, not the problem.”
Similarly, Cambridge City Council pledged to only serve plant-based food at any meetings where food is available, as long as the cost is the same or cheaper than it currently is.
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Featured image: Claudio Divizia via Getty
