Vegan campaigners say Bristol City Council should stop serving meat and cheese in City Hall to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. An upcoming review will explore suggested pledges on making all internal catering plant-based.
One campaigner said he had been “routinely ignored” by council bosses, when trying to encourage them to ban meat from catering menus. However a new contract for internal catering is being worked up at the moment, which could see big changes to food in the next year or so.
Members of the public repeated their calls to councillors on the environment policy committee on Thursday, September 26, to change the council’s policy on internal catering. Elsewhere in England, other councils have already done so.
James Jones said: “The only food system that can ecologically sustain eight billion people is one based on a plant-based diet, a fact that existed even before this council declared a climate emergency in 2018, six years ago. I read the news and see the ecological destruction, and I see Bristol City Council so unwilling to make the minutest of changes to their internal catering.
“I’m just standing here thinking this is so, so hopeless. I first spoke to the council on this topic in 2020, four years ago. Myself and others have been routinely ignored, had meetings arranged with cabinet members who no-showed, and been given responses that had absolutely zero connection to our questions.
“Maybe the council will listen after the pandemic? Maybe the council will listen after the mayor has gone, after the committee restructure, and now that we have so many Green councillors? What more will it take before Bristol takes the initiative and sets an example? As a resident living in a Green city, I’m embarrassed to be standing here today, again.”
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The council’s current policy on catering includes reducing the amount of meat served, and improving its quality. Sandwiches and crisps are provided for a few council meetings, such as lengthy full council meetings in the evening and licensing hearings that run over lunchtime.
Across the country, local authorities are facing growing pressure from the Plant-Based Councils campaign led by Animal Rising. The campaigners say switching to 100 per cent plant-based food for internal catering would inspire wider changes elsewhere.
They also want councils to prioritise seasonal British produce, which is both more nutritious and better for the environment. Councils in Oxfordshire, Cambridge and Exeter have already pledged to serve plant-based food.
Green Councillor Martin Fodor, chair of the environment committee, said: “We have asked officers to review the Plant-Based Councils commitments. I look forward to that being reported back to us, and we’ll have a look at that and see what the next steps should be.
“Just to be clear: there is very little catering provided by the council. Council meetings used to have catering, that was cancelled; they used to have biscuits, that was cancelled. There is very little available.
“But we should look at the catering, and yesterday I asked about the contract that’s in the process of going through. That contract will be reviewing what’s available to be served in City Hall. Some events are private events, and how they arrange their catering is up to them. The revised contract is going through in the next 12 months or so.”