• A peaceful protest in Cambridge on Tuesday 6 October called on universities to “feed the future, not the crisis” by implementing fully plant-based catering.

• As Heads of Sustainability Teams from across the UK gathered in Cambridge, campaigners unfurled a 9-metre long banner over West Hub, the largest central canteen of the University of Cambridge.

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Students dropped a banner at the University of Cambridge on Tuesday 6 October to call on universities to transition to climate-friendly plant-based catering.

Research produced by academics at leading universities shows that the world cannot stay below 2 degrees warming without transitioning towards a plant-based food system. [1] [2] [3] 

Yet many of the institutions which are producing this research still serve meat and dairy – the foods with the highest climate and nature impacts – in their own canteens. [4]

The banner drop marks five years since the launch of Plant-Based Universities, a student climate movement calling on institutions to act on their own food sustainability research and switch to serving fully plant-based menus.

Meanwhile, at the Cambridge Freshers’ Fair on Parker’s Piece, the Cambridge Students’ Union (SU) served 100% plant-based food and drinks for the first time. This follows three successful student votes for fully plant-based catering at the Cambridge SU. [5]

The University of Cambridge previously trialled a 100% plant-based menu in the Whale Café before senior figures cancelled it using incorrect sales data. [6] More than 6,200 people have so far signed a petition urging the University of Cambridge to “act with academic integrity and as a climate leader by admitting its error and resuming the sustainable plant-based menu”. [7]

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Dr Timothy Missing, Co-Coordinator of Plant-Based Cambridge, said:

“If Cambridge wants to lead the way in sustainability without being hypocritical, it must take rapid steps to align with the overwhelming scientific evidence that animal agriculture is hugely damaging to our environment by switching all its university and college catering to fully plant-based.”

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Plant-Based Universities is a Europe-wide student movement calling on universities to follow their own climate research and transition to serving fully plant-based menus to address the climate and biodiversity crises.

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With active teams in almost 100 universities across 11 countries, more than 30 universities have so far made commitments towards fully plant-based catering. [8]

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Nathaniel Joyce, England and Wales Coordinator at Plant-Based Universities, said:

"Sustainability heads from across the UK came together in Cambridge to find solutions to the climate crisis. Students are proposing one simple solution: make your university fully plant-based and compatible with a liveable planet."

ENDS

Word count: 440

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For interviews or further comment please contact:

Nathaniel: +44 7474 932388

nathaniel.joyce@plantbaseduniversities.org

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