The motion passed was "For the catering outlets of the Students’ Union"

Southampton Students Vote To Move Towards Plant-Based Menus In Response To Climate Crisis

On Thursday 19th February, the Student Council at the University of Southampton’s Students’ Union voted by an overwhelming majority of 12-3 for Students’ Union catering facilities to adopt plant-based by default and for the Students’ Union to lobby for university-wide adoption of plant-based by default [1].

This follows a Students’ Union petition for plant-based by default launched on 3rd February which obtained over 950 signatures from students in just 7 days and support from over 40 Southampton academics, including the Director of the Sustainability and Resilience Institute, Prof. Craig Hutton, and ecology experts, Prof. Patrick Doncaster and Prof. Felix Eigenbrod.

The motion highlighted animal farming and fishing’s contribution to the climate and ecological crises and the public health threats caused by animal agriculture, citing numerous studies, such as those from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and the University of Oxford [2,3].

In a wave of universities taking no-nonsense steps to reduce their contribution to the climate crisis by switching to plant-based catering, Southampton becomes the latest student body to step up. The passing of this motion follows similar successful votes at Bristol and Imperial College London last year to move towards plant-based menus [4].

Southampton also joins many other universities across Europe in voting for the transition towards plant-based menus. Last week, students at Bologna, Italy voted for 100% plant-based canteens. These recent wins bring the total number of universities that have passed a plant-based motion to 25.

Matthew Rochford, a PhD student at the University of Southampton, said:
“We are delighted that the Student Council at Southampton has voted in favour of moving towards plant-based catering. This decision recognises the devastating impact of animal agriculture and the need to move towards a plant-based food system to deal with some of the biggest issues we face today. With this strong mandate from students, it is time for the University to move away from animal products, shift to sustainable catering on campus and set an example for other universities to follow.”

The motion, launched by the Plant-Based Universities Southampton campaign, identified that a move towards a plant-based food system is a necessary part of preventing global warming going beyond 1.5°C [5] and that animal agriculture and fishing are main drivers of ecological destruction [6,7].

It also described the public health threats caused by animal agriculture, with over 36% of emerging zoonotic diseases being associated with animals used in food production [8]. Also, in an attempt to deal with the unsanitary conditions of animal farms, around 70% of antibiotics used globally are given to farm animals [9], making it a leading cause of antimicrobial resistance.

Dr. Becks Spake, Associate Professor of Climate and Environmental Change at Southampton, said

“This is excellent news. The University is acting on its responsibility to lead on climate action. This decision aligns with scientific evidence that shifting to plant-rich diets is essential for cutting emissions, protecting nature, and securing food for future generations.”

Plant-Based Universities is an international network of students who are campaigning for their universities and students’ unions to adopt 100% plant-based catering [10] and has received high profile support from Southampton alumnus and environmentalist, Chris Packham, the co-executive directors of Greenpeace UK, Areeba Hamid and Will McCallum, and leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski [11].

The group believes that universities should follow the scientific research that they produce on the environmental impacts of animal farming and fishing. The campaign is active in 80 institutions, with the group encouraging interested students to sign up to run local campaigns.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plantbasedunis/

Notes [1] The motion passed was “For the catering outlets of the Students’ Union, which includes The Stag’s, The Bridge, Below Deck and fresh food in The Shop to adopt plant-based by default by the start of the 2026/27 academic year, implement an educational campaign on the impact of animal agriculture on the planet and the benefits of a plant-based food system and work with Plant-Based Universities to lobby the University to adopt plant-based by default in their catering outlets.” Plant-based by default makes plant-based meals the standard option, while allowing consumers to opt-in for animal-based products.

[2] foodandagricultureorganization.shinyapps.io/GLEAMV3_Public/
[3] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216 [4] https://plantbaseduniversities.org/press/bristol-and-imperial-college-london-students-vote-to-support-plant-based-catering
[5] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba7357
[6] https://ourworldindata.org/drivers-of-deforestation
[7] https://www.ipbes.net/models-drivers-biodiversity-ecosystem-change
[8] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771421001130
[9] https://ourworldindata.org/antibiotics-livestock
[10] https://plantbaseduniversities.org/
[11] https://plantbaseduniversities.org/press/dale-vince-obe-joins-over-900-academics-notables-calling-for-100-plant-based-university-catering