Students at the University of Cambridge dropped a banner in Selwyn College with the words ‘MEAT + DAIRY = CLIMATE CRISIS’ at a formal hall last night (4 March) to highlight the need to transition towards sustainable plant-based catering.
In 2023, the Cambridge Students’ Union voted to support 100% plant-based catering, while the university’s Sustainable Food Initiative (CamEATS ZERO) launched with a primary goal to “increase the proportion of plant-based meals” served in colleges.
Protestors claim Selwyn is one of only a handful of colleges not to have signed up to CamEATS ZERO.
Nathan McGovern, Plant-Based Universities Co-Founder, said: “The college’s senior leadership scrapped plant-based formal halls in 2024. Selwyn was also the worst-performing Cambridge college in the recent Climate League of Oxford and Cambridge (CLOC) report, which ranks colleges on a range of sustainability metrics.”
Nathan said that during the formal dinner at Selwyn College, students disrupted proceedings “over the college’s poor record on sustainability. The action intended to highlight the need for 100% plant-based menus in response to the climate crisis”.
Sam Hutton, an Environment Science student at Selwyn – who was attending the formal – said: “It’s undeniable that something needs to change about our food system, and it’s shocking that Selwyn refuses to engage with even the bare minimum of policies. To me, it’s a no-brainer; overall, plant-based foods are healthier, better for the planet and often cheaper.
“When you refuse to hear the voices of students, scientists and even the university’s own initiatives, you have to expect this kind of disruptive action.”
Nathan said that after approving a college-wide sustainability policy, senior figures at Selwyn suggested that the policy was symbolic and should not always be followed, according to students.
In one meeting, the college’s senior tutor ‘demanded’ that he be offered meat at every meal, including at sustainability-themed formal dinners, student representatives claim.
In recent years, some Cambridge Colleges have taken steps to make their menus more sustainable. Departments and institutions, including the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and Cambridge Zero, have also implemented 100% plant-based sustainable food policies.
In recent months, universities including Imperial College London have also voted to support a shift towards fully plant-based catering.
Professor Jason Scott-Warren, a fellow at Gonville and Caius College, said: “Colleges have a massive responsibility to align their catering operations with what they know about the environmental impact of meat and dairy consumption. We need to get out of the meat-and-two-veg rut and begin to discover more sustainable options.”
CamEATS ZERO, a steering group responsible for writing the sustainable food guidelines for colleges at the University of Cambridge, released its priority actions last year, with number one being a transition towards plant-based catering.
The group was led by Baroness Sally Morgan, Master of Fitzwilliam College, and Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care.
Andrew Balmford, Professor of Conservation Science, and a member of the CamEATS ZERO Steering Group added: “Shifting to largely plant-based diets is critically important for mitigating the catastrophic consequences of climate change and the extinction crisis, very few other actions can yield such dramatic benefits in a short span of time.”
Plant-Based Cambridge is part of the Plant-Based Universities campaign, an international network of students who are campaigning for their universities and student unions to adopt 100% plant-based catering.
The group believes that universities have an obligation to follow the scientific research that they produce on the environmental impacts of animal farming and fishing. The campaign is active in over 80 institutions, with the group encouraging interested students to sign up to run local campaigns.
The campaign is supported by Animal Rising.
