Cambridge Students Have Voted & Are Campaigning For 100% Vegan Menus

Students at Cambridge are calling for vegan menus across the university.

Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or just like to avoid meat or dairy occasionally, you’ve probably struggled more than once to find a decent meal or snack while you’re on campus.

However, this could all be set to change at the University of Cambridge, as students have pushed for a completely vegan menu across the catering services that the university offers.

Why do students want vegan menus?

While there are many reasons why students may want to ditch meat and dairy, this push from students comes in a bid to create a more sustainable menu in response to the climate and biodiversity crisis. While veganism is a controversial topic that many people often have a lot to say about, it turns out that the majority of students at Cambridge are on the same page with this.

Cambridge Students’ Union voted for the Plant-Based Universities group to begin talks with UCS (University Catering Services) about moving towards an all-vegan menu and 72% of student representatives voted in support of this decision.

Now that students have voted, the final decision is up to the university itself. However, with student pressure it could be something that the university agrees to–– or at least agree to meet halfway and offer more vegan options.

The university previously removed beef and lamb from all menus back in 2016 in order to take a step forward towards being more sustainable and already offer a range of vegan and plant-based meals on their menus as well as focusing on serving sustainable fish and reducing food waste. However, student campaigners feel that while this is a good start, more can be done and until the menu is 100% vegan, it won’t be enough to help combat climate change.

Of course, all things veganism come with a certain amount of backlash. As a direct response to the vote from students the Countryside Alliance, a group that fights for farmers and supports hunting has suggested that this is “an attack of freedom of choice” and that “students’ unions are made up of a small minority of the wider student body” and aren’t representative of every student.

Regardless of the criticism, many students at Cambridge clearly feel strongly about this and while the final decision does lie with the university, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more plant-based and vegan menus appearing across UK universities over the next year.