Protestors are calling for action to be taken as a response to the climate and ecological crises.
Residents gathered at New Shire Hall, headquarters of Cambridgeshire County Council, to call on the council to take climate action by ensuring that all food and drink provided at internal council events is 100% plant-based.
Joined by Green Party councillor Elliot Tong, they unfurled a banner reading ‘Plant-Based Councils Climate Action on Food’ and called on their council to back the campaign.
Local councils across Cambridgeshire have been divided over the issue of plant-based catering.
In 2022, Cambridge City Council gained headlines by committing to move towards fully plant-based catering for council meetings.
In 2023, Fenland District Council passed a motion with the opposite intent, committing to continue to serve meat and dairy products.
Research from the University of Oxford conducted in 2018 showed that 76% of the land currently used for food production could be freed-up by a global transition to plant-based production [3]. Campaigners argue that this land could then be rewilded and returned to nature, allowing for carbon drawdown that would mitigate the worst impacts of climate breakdown.
