Campaign Outline

To encourge the University of Leicester to adopt more plant based food options. Recommending a minimum of 75% wholly plant-based options in all catering outlets whilst ensuring that students who need meat for cultural, dietary, textural, and any other reasons are not disadvantaged. With the view of increasing the amount of plant-based food that the university offers by around 5% each year as well as encouraging 100% plant-based options at university events where food and drink are provided.

Transitioning to plant-based catering will have a number of benefits; individually, socially, environmentally and sustainably.

Reasons for Transitioning to Plant-Based Catering

• Plant-based foods on average release up to 84% less greenhouse gas emissions (CO_2eq), use up to 18 times less land, and ~69% less water than the equivalent meat-based foods, making plant-based foods far more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
• Plant-based foods were found to be up to ~30% cheaper on average than meat options, a study found from The University of Oxford, this saving will be negotiated to be passed on to students/staff. Plant-Based foods are the most accessible food options available for virtually all, including dietary and religious observances.
• Plant-based foods have been found to be associated with lower risks of health issues such as coronary heart disease, diabetes (type 2), obesity, various cancers (inc bowel cancer, stroke, and can result in lower blood pressure and cholesterol).

Transitioning to Plant-Based Foods for the Animals Also

• Every year ~80 billion land animals are slaughtered, up to 2.8 trillion when you include marine life, with a 1/5^th (53 million tonnes) being wasted and ending up in the bin.

The Plant-Based Campaign Supported by Plant-Based Universities

• Plant Based Universities is a student lead international campaign that started in 2021 and has successfully transitioned 12 universities* to 75-100% plant-based options, with over 80 campaigns currently active.
• Plant-based foods are the most accessible food options available, being suitable for virtually all dietary requirements, religious observances (e.g. Halal and Kosher), and can be maximally accessible if majority vegan plant-based.

Summary

Universities not only educate future academics, they are at the forefront of much of the climate and environmental research, as a such have a responsibility to act on the research and data. More than 650 academics have signed an open letter calling for UK universities to transition to and adopt plant-based catering across universities campuses to act as leaders in tackling climate breakdown, environmental and ecological destruction, and to achieve sustainability goals. At the University of Leicester, students, staff, and academics have the opportunity to make a significant positive difference and reduce our global impact, simply by transitioning over to plant-based foods.

* Universities that have transitioned so far since 2021 are: Bristol, Cambridge, UCL, Warwick, Stirling, London Metropolitan, Kent, Lancaster, Newcastle, Falmouth, Queen Mary, and Graz (in Hungary).

Together, we can all make a significant and positive difference to the environment, ecosystem, and climate by simply going plant-based