Trinity’s decision this week to make 75 per cent of its restaurants’ meals plant based for the duration of Green Week – and hopefully beyond that – is a step in the right direction for a Provost who, throughout last year’s Provost elections, promoted the importance of tackling the climate crisis on campus.
Including students in the decision – via an online vote – also shows that Trinity is keen to bring on board the whole community in its fight to become more environmentally friendly. Indeed, the fact that the subsidising of plant-based milks was introduced after a suggestion from a student shows that Trinity can be genuinely persuaded by their views.
After a bumpy start, the new administration is showing that it is serious on climate, and this democratic approach ought to be commended and built upon.
Policies like this one, though, need to be based on close consideration of their wider impacts. People with dietary requirements also need to be taken into account, for example.
Where the food is coming from is important too. Shipping in almond milk from the other side of the world generates a lot more carbon dioxide than using Irish dairy milk for tea and coffee. In short, the approach can’t just be: replace meat with vegetables. It has to be well thought out, grounded in research – and common sense – and holistic.
Furthermore, increasing the number of plant-based options is an extremely popular move. Other carbon-cutting measures like retrofitting buildings and cutting down on unnecessary flights to far-flung academic conferences will be a lot harder to implement. Small steps are great, but big ones are needed too.
Sustainability Advisor to the Office of the Provost Michele Hallahan told this newspaper that the move “makes sense. If we have on the menu what people are looking for then we’ll have more customers”, and that she hoped it would continue past Green Week.
She’s right. Let’s hope that College sees this logic and sticks with the shift to more plant-based meals, while building on more ambitious carbon-cutting projects across the board.
