
On 24/07/24, councillors at the Full Council meeting of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council voted to approve a plant-based catering policy.
The council will serve only plant-based food at future council meetings and events that are catered.
Local supporters of the Plant-Based Councils campaign [1] say this is the logical and necessary next step after declaring a climate emergency.
Calderdale Council is the first council in the region to implement such a policy, with similar motions having been passed in Oxfordshire County Council and Exeter City Council [2].
Councillors at Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council have voted in favour 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 the council’s Cabinet on 03/06/24 [3], 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. Following further comments of support from Councillor Jane Scullion, Leader of the Council, the Cabinet voted unanimously to recommend the policy to the meeting of the Full Council.
Speaking to councillors at the meeting, Liz Readle, 68, Calderdale resident and retired University teacher said:
“The climate emergency affects us all. Increasing the consumption of plant based foods is vital in order to meet net zero targets and reduce biodiversity loss, water pollution and antibiotic resistance. To change our food system we need to support food growers and help animal farmers to transition to sustainable plant based farming.”
This policy comes after lobbying from the Plant-Based Councils campaign [1], 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.
Councils across the country have been debating the issue of plant-based catering. Last week, Dacorum Borough Council committed to default vegetarian internal catering by next year, and a proposal for a plant-based catering policy for North Devon District Council was put forward and debated despite backlash from local farmers [4].
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