THE City of Edinburgh Council has decided to request a report on the feasibility and economic impact of a switch to 100%plant-based foodat its internal catering.
A petition advocating for the switch at meetings and eventshas been organised by the Edinburgh branch of thePlant Based Councilscampaign group, which has been pressing local authorities around the country to switch to plant-based catering.
The petition is based around thePlant Based Treaty– an international initiative which aims to create bottom-up pressure on governments and organisations to take action to curb the consumption of meat and dairy, which scientists and campaigners say is contributing the climate crisis.
The City of Edinburgh Council has already signed the plant-based treaty – which recommends a switch to plant-based food – but its recommendations are not binding.
The Policy and Sustainability Committee today considered the petition but decided instead to defer until a report can be completed.
This report will be completed in three cycles and will concern the effects of its potential implementation.
The financial impacts of 100% plant-based catering and the projected carbon savings and impact on the 2023 Net Zero target will be among the considerations of the report.
The Greens requested that consideration of the petition be considered in conjunction with an update to the Plant Based Treaty Action Plan, due to return to committee in March.
Council leader Jane Meagher asked the council’s catering officers if they could ensure that a switch to plant-based food would truly reduce the council’s carbon footprint, given the carbon impact of importing food like avocados.
Meagher added: “I think it is very important that there are no unintended consequences of a switch to plant-based catering.”
Responding to a question from Councillor Cammy Day about whether there is any demand from customers for this change, one of the council catering officers replied: “We haven’t seen particular demand for wholesale change.”
The Conservatives put forth an amendment to scrap the entire petition and take no further action, saying that people should be free to decide on what they eat.
Greens councillor Chas Booth responded to a contribution from the Conservatives, saying: “We’ve heard some alarmism from the Conservatives that pricing considerations would be the death-knell of Council catering.
“I think we need to take it all with a pinch of salt.”
Meagher was forced to continuously remind councillors that they were only asking for a report on the petition, not deciding on it, as councillors used the time to make points about the merits of plant-based vs omnivorous diets.
The Liberal democrats, Greens, SNP, and Labour were all in favour of proceeding with a report while The Conservatives wanted to scrap the petition entirely.
They had separate amendments with different specifications, but these were eventually combined in the motion, which defeated the Conservative amendment to take no further action.
There were 14 votes for the motion and just three for the Conservative amendment.
Plant Based Councils has been approached for comment.
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