Plant-Based Councils campaigners celebrate outside Halifax Town Hall after the meeting.
On 03/06/24 at the Cabinet meeting of Calderdale Council, councillors voted in support of a motion asking the Council to play a role in raising awareness of the benefits of eating more plant-based food.
The council will serve only plant-based food at future council meetings and events that are catered.
Local supporters of the campaign for Plant-Based Councils say this is the logical and necessary next step after declaring a climate emergency.
Calderdale Council would be the first council in the region to implement such a policy, with similar motions having been passed in Oxfordshire, Cambridge, and Exeter Councils.
Members of the Calderdale Council cabinet have voted unanimously to recommend the adoption of a plant-based catering policy as a first step towards a larger Food Strategy Policy for the borough.
Councillor Scott Patient, Deputy Leader of the Council, proposed the policy to Cabinet on 03/06/24 [2], recommending that the council serve only plant-based food at any future catering for internal council events, and also promote plant-based diets as part of the planned local Food Strategy.
Emphasising the role the council plays in influencing decisions made by residents, businesses, and institutions across the borough, Cllr. Patient said that
“As a cabinet we really do believe we should be leading by example”, before outlining how a plant-based catering policy would be aligned with the council’s existing climate commitments.
Speaking in support of the proposed policy, Councillor Jane Scullion, Leader of the Council, emphasised the importance of the council taking collective responsibility for the environmental impacts of all the decisions it makes.
This proposal comes after lobbying from the Plant-Based Councils campaign, requesting that the council follows other councils around the country in promoting healthy plant-based eating as the logical and necessary next step after having declared a climate emergency. The Plant-Based Councils campaign believes that local authorities have an opportunity and a duty to lead the way in normalising plant-based eating, which is necessary if we are to tackle the climate emergency.
If approved by the Council, this would place Calderdale Council alongside local authorities in Exeter [3] Oxfordshire [4], and others that have passed similar motions in recent years.
ENDS.
For more information or further comments, please contact press@plantbasedcouncils.org
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The Plant-Based Councils campaign aims to address the climate emergency starting with the food on our plates. Working with councils across the UK to encourage them to lead the way in the switch from emission heavy foods to plant-based ones that are better for health, our planet and reducing the impact from the cost of living crisis. https://twitter.com/PBCouncils
[3] Exeter City Council votes to serve 100% plant-based food at catered meetings https://news.exeter.gov.uk/council-pledges-to-raise-awareness-of-the-benefits-of-plant-based-food/
[4] Oxfordshire County Council votes to serve fully plant-based food at all council catered events https://news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/plant-based-food/
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