The move is designed to reduce environmental impact of animal agriculture

Food awareness organisation, ProVeg International, today welcomed the vote by Kent University students to switch to plant-based catering by 2027/2028 in a proposal that aims to reduce the impact of animal agriculture on the environment.

“It’s really encouraging to see university students take this significant and necessary step towards adopting climate friendly diets,” Jasmijn de Boo, CEO of ProVeg, said.

“Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from animal agriculture are twice those from plant-based diets, so actions like the one taken in Kent need to be welcomed and encouraged. We congratulate the students on taking a stance for the climate.

“It is also vitally important that younger generations are empowered to act in the face of the climate crisis as they will be more impacted by the effects of climate change than older generations,” de Boo said.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 32% of human-caused emissions of methane¹ – a powerful greenhouse gas – and is also responsible for most of the greenhouse gases caused by the food system. Policies are urgently required to support the transition to plant-based diets, such as through public procurement, research and development and subsidies for farmers to transition to alternative protein production.

The policy motion, voted for by 450 students at Kent University, will now be discussed by the university’s Board of Trustees.  

Students in Stirling, Cambridge, London and Birmingham have taken similar decisions to shift to plant-based foods on their campuses.