Students at the University of Cambridge have voted to support a transition to a solely vegan menu across its catering services.
The Cambridge students’ union voted on Monday to hold talks about removing all animal products from its cafes and canteens with the university’s catering services.
However, the move does not guarantee that Cambridge’s catering services will go fully vegan, as that power lies with the university. It also does not apply to the university’s 31 colleges, although the campaign said it provided “an extremely strong mandate for colleges to begin transitioning to 100% plant-based menus”.
The group’s motion, which calls for the change in response to “climate and biodiversity crises”, was backed by 72% of non-abstaining student representatives who voted after a four-week consultation process. It comes after lobbying from Cambridge’s Plant-Based Universities campaign, which is supported by Animal Rebellion.
William Smith, 24, from the Cambridge branch of the Plant-Based Universities campaign, said: “It’s great that Cambridge students’ union has passed our motion to work with the university to implement a just and sustainable plant-based catering system.
