Enfield Council First In The UK To Ban Meat And Serve Vegan Or Vegetarian Food At Events In A Bid To Combat Climate Change

A local council in London's Enfield is the first in the country to ban meat in all the meals as part of its efforts to fight climate change. Enfield council plans to be carbon neutral by 2030. 

Starting in December, the council will serve only vegan and vegetarian meals at events hosted by this local authority. 

Preparing its climate change "action plan" for this year, the council said: "All events held by Enfield Council where catering is provided to offer only vegan or vegetarian options." 

"The emergency is real and the action to remedy it must be local, national and global," deputy leader Ian Barnes wrote in the climate report. 

Making the council carbon neutral requires "taking bold and sometimes unpopular action", he said.

Sam Calvert from The Vegan Society told the Evening Standard: "A comparison of even the lowest impact beef with plant protein such as peas shows that beef is responsible for six times more greenhouse gasses and 36 times more land," said Ms Calvert. 

"For councils that have declared a Climate Emergency, this would be a simple policy to enact which would have a positive impact. 

"We hope other councils and public sector organisations will be inspired to follow Enfield Council's lead."