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Incorporation of vegan menu to daily cafeteria choices

The vegan menu is now available in Pompeu Fabra University cafeterias. Since March, you can now enjoy your lunchtime set menu free of animal protein in all the University’s cafeterias. The University has expressed its desire for the sustainability of life on the planet in its Planetary Wellbeing initiative, and May 2019 it approved the Climate Emergency Declaration in line with other institutions in our environment. This March, thanks to the involvement of Universitas, the company commissioned to run the cafeteria service, and of Menúxelplaneta, a student association, a fight that began some time ago with the implementation of the vegan menu within the daily lunch options in the cafeterias has come to fruition. This set menu will continue to contain the amounts of protein declared by the WHO as healthy, but it will be provided by produce like legumes or cereals. The introduction of other vegetable protein options is also being studied with the cafeteria, such as tofu, seitan and even the possibility of innovative foods like Heura products and the company’s plant-based meat substitute.

In fact, numerous studies, over and above the health problems that the consumption of excess animal protein entails, demonstrate the enormous impact that diet has on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and therefore on climate change. Some scientists have estimated that one-third of global emissions come from food production, and most of this is caused by animal production. Thus, it is estimated that an average meat-based diet emits 7.2 kg/CO² equivalent per person per day, while in a vegetarian diet it falls to 2.9. At the same time, to produce a beef burger you need the water of twenty-five 5-minute showers, while an equivalent soy burger requires the water of two showers. The problem is that diets based on abundant animal protein pose a serious environmental threat at many different levels, as they are responsible for most of the deforestation of natural spaces, the loss of biodiversity, water and soil pollution, the scarcity of water, in addition to emissions and consequent climate change.

Organizations such as the FAO, the UN, UNEP or the World Economic Forum have been studying this issue for some time and have warned us about it. According to estimates, adopting a vegetarian diet would reduce carbon emissions by 63%, while a 50% reduction in meat, dairy and eggs in the European Union would lead to a 40% per capita reduction in nitrogen emissions and a 23% reduction in the land used for crops in Europe.

And, beyond the environmental problems involved in a diet based on animal protein, we cannot overlook one aspect of this diet that humanity does not want to face up to, and that is the animal violence used to produce these calories. The figures are incredible: it is estimated that every year about 90,000 million land animals and between 1 and 3 billion aquatic animals are slaughtered. The number of animals kept in captivity is even higher, given the young age at which they are sent to slaughter.

With regard to health, red and processed meat have already been included in the list of products that may cause cancer, as published by the World Health Organization (WHO). At the same time, there has been debate as to whether the widespread use of antibiotics on farms and their effects on human health is necessary, and the negative effects of meat on cardiovascular health are also widely known. We are also becoming aware of the intake of microplastics that reach us through this route.