A resolution has been put forward at Surrey County Council to propose Surrey schools introduce 'Meat-Free Mondays'.
At a Surrey County Council (SCC) meeting on Monday 29th April, councillors suggested a potential rule that would see a fully plant-based menu introduced for one day a week across schools in Surrey, stating that this would ideally be Mondays.
The Council service recommendation said it would work to "empower families and young people to make an informed choice about eating a balanced diet", which it said was "good for both health and the environment".
SCC also recommended guidelines for local authority procurement of food to be "sustainable by default" based on the Government Buying Standard for food and catering services, and said it should aim to "encourage using ingredients sourced from local food surplus organisations".
A spokesperson for the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) said: "Surrey County Council need to remember that their county includes livestock farms and livestock processing sites, all of who pay business rates and council taxes.
"They should be working with them to ensure that a full locally-sourced menu is served everyday of the week rather than looking to plant-based foods, many of which are imported to the UK or, where manufactured here, contain a raft of ingredients from across the globe."
Councillor Marisa Heath said that they would be producing a food strategy shortly with more detail, but that it would not be about plant-based diets as their focus was on "sustainable and nutritious food foremost".
In the council agenda reports pack, it was also highlighted that "it may not always be appropriate for young people to eat a plant-based diet due to specific issues for pupils with health concerns", and that restricting to plant-based only options may make some pupils, families and staff "feel excluded".
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) said: "Dictating what people can and can't eat is a dangerous road to go down. One of the largest opinion polls of over a million people in 50 countries that was carried out by the United Nations Development Programme and Oxford University in 2020 suggests that people would rather change other aspects of their lifestyle to help the environment than cut out two of the most nutritionally important elements of their diet: meat and dairy.
"And, as they realise that sustainable livestock farming can be part of the solution to climate change, the choice between these natural whole foods and the new ultra-processed plant-based alternatives will become easier to make. Of course, one of the easiest ways to reduce our carbon footprint is to reduce food waste and this works hand in hand with the 'less but better' axiom."
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
