In what has been called ‘a kick in the teeth for local farmers’, Oxford City Council has joined Cambridge, Exeter and Norwich councils in providing only plant-based food at its catered events. At a full Oxford City Council meeting on March 20, the council unanimously voted in favour of ‘following Oxfordshire County Council’s lead by ensuring that food provided for internal councillor events are entirely plant based’.
Paula Dunne, the Labour councillor who fronted the campaign, justified her motion, saying: “In the UK, we eat twice as much meat and dairy as the global average, which is not sustainable on a finite planet as there is not enough land in the world to meet this demand.”
Councillor Anna Railton supported the move, and said it was the council’s responsibility to “encourage our residents to look at their own diets and reduce their meat and dairy consumption.”
The move comes as no surprise, as Oxfordshire County Council was the first in the country to go plant-based in December 2021.
The decision has been met with resentment; a local farmer, who wished to remain anonymous, said the council were “not supporting local farmers or people’s free choice”. They said: “Everywhere you go, you must have a vegetarian option in menus so what about the people who want to eat meat? Farmers are already doing all they can for the environment.”
This view was supported by Mo Metcalf-Fisher, spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance, who said the decision was “an attack on freedom of choice,” and was a snub to local farmers: “Livestock farmers across Oxfordshire work incredibly hard to maintain and enhance the beautiful countryside surrounding Oxford. Without them, that countryside risks becoming a wasteland. Anti-farming policies such as this will only alienate the voters they need to win over.”
Speaking to The Times, Liam Walker, an Oxfordshire Conservative councillor who opposed the move, said: “The idea that some councillors eating vegan meals a few times a year is suddenly going to help towards climate change is madness”.