Another UK University Votes to Ditch Beef 

The University of East Anglia’s (UAE) student-elected Union Council voted to stop the sale of beef on campus in an effort to fight climate change. The students want to build on the existing Meat Free Monday policy on campus with new vegan food options on other days and a general shift away from environmentally damaging foods such as meat and dairy. UAE’s vote follows a number of other educational institutions that have banned beef in recent months, including Goldsmith’s college, University of Cambridge, and University of Coimbra—the oldest university in Portugal. Nonprofit Moving Animals joined UK’s #NoBeef campaign to create guides and support systems to help universities transition to meat-free menus. “Universities continue to have a major role in implementing policies and influencing public thought, as well as providing much of the academic work and research that creates the conversation around the climate catastrophe,” Moving Animals co-founder Paul Healey said. “Higher places of learning also represent a significant number of the UK population, who can—and should—be mobilised to support a wider transition towards a more sustainable plant-based food system.” Other universities are also interested in removing environmentally destructive foods from their dining halls, including Oxford University, which plans to eliminate beef by the end of the year, according to Kaya Axelsson, Vice President of Charities and Communities at the prestigious school, who said that the beef ban is “something students are pushing for, and it is part of our broader climate action plan.”