Students have voted for College’s catering services to change their menus to 75 per cent plant based-options for Green Week.
Trinity held a vote this week asking students if they want College menus to remain at 25 per cent plant based or to increase to 50 per cent or 75 per cent for Green Week. Just over 2,000 students voted with 1,264 voting for the option of 75 per cent.
Speaking to The University Times, Sustainability Advisor to the Office of the Provost Michele Hallahan said: “I am absolutely thrilled. It really shows that there is a desire in Trinity for more plant-based options.”
“The purpose of the vote was to raise people’s awareness of the climate impact of food in general”, she added. “We know from all the studies conducted over the past number of years that meat and animal products have a larger carbon footprint.”
Hallahan said she was hopeful that this initiative would continue after Green Week stating that: “It makes sense. If we have on the menu what people are looking for then we’ll have more customers.”
Last November, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) voted to lobby for more plant based options in college catering services.
The union called for the replacement of animal-based products with “similarly priced, healthy, ethically and sustainably sourced plant-based alternatives”.
The motion was proposed by second-year PPES class representative László Molnárfi and was seconded by the union’s Environmental Officer Sam Foley.
It stated: “As Ireland’s leading university, we should provide leadership and raise our profile as a sustainability-oriented university prepared to play its part in ameliorating catastrophic climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Trinity’s 20th annual Green Week will take place from February 21st to 25th and will revolve around the theme of “repairing our broken food systems” and will aim to educate students and staff about all aspects of food production “from farm to fork”. Topics covered will include the way food is grown, food waste and food poverty.
Last month, the University of Cambridge said that the removal of beef and lamb products from its menus has led to a 33 per cent reduction in carbon emissions per kilogram of food.
The university’s Sustainable Food Policy, which was implemented in 2016, focused on reducing the consumption of meat, increasing plant based options on menus, removing unsustainable fish from menus and reducing food waste.
