Plant Based Universities

"Plant-Based Universities" is a campaign initiated in 2021 by the organization Animal Rising to promote the introduction of a fully plant-based menu at universities in the United Kingdom. Recently, the campaign received support in an open letter from 850 scientists, politicians, athletes, and public figures.

Two important points should be noted here. First, Animal Rising was previously known for direct actions such as blocking slaughterhouses or horse racing, so this campaign represents a shift in their approach. Second, the campaign, as emphasized in the letter, is not focused on changing individual dietary habits. It is not about banning meat consumption but about systemic change. Individually, as explicitly stated in the letter, you can still have ham sandwiches (if dietary restrictions allow). The choice is yours, but at these universities, you'll only find plant-based options.

This aligns with my personal approach to some extent because that's essentially how I eat. Most people who eat at our center consume meat regularly, but they can replace pâté with hummus. The key is that the hummus must be good.

This approach also highlights how systemic actions shape individual choices and habits. The diet served in school cafeterias, for example, influences students' eating habits and tastes. A well-prepared, balanced, and tasty plant-based diet served in cafeterias can shape the eating habits of students or university students.

There's also a third topic that is closely related to Poland and very relevant events. One of the proposals from the ruling party for the new term is the "good meal," addressing the same issue of how the state or organizations can systematically influence the food market. I want to write separately about the "good meal" because it's a very important but challenging topic, much like the "local shelf." A hospital's "good meal," if aligned with modern medical and dietary knowledge (EBM), would be almost entirely plant-based.

Food security, one of the fundamental goals of the European Union, is no longer a given, especially for countries like Poland, which are less affluent than Germany and other Western European countries. Free markets often result in food "flowing" to markets where consumers can pay more, such as Germany, in the event of food shortages. A more plant-based diet is also a component of food security because it requires significantly fewer agricultural resources per person, making it easier to ensure food security.

The fundamental dispute is about the methods to bring about such changes. One common demand, which makes sense, is to impose real costs on meat (and other products), such as environmental costs or special taxes. Opponents of this solution rightly point out that it creates further social stratification or returns to the old division where meat is a privilege of the wealthy.

Another proposal is to focus on individual consumer choices. Critics rightly call this privatizing (systemic) problems and privatizing profits (by the meat industry) while socializing costs (e.g., environmental). However, since the days of Ralph Nader, we know that consumer movements and consumer boycotts are a significant social force.

The "Plant-Based Universities" campaign is an interesting example of how such actions can complement each other. In Cambridge and Kent, students voted (in non-binding referendums) to introduce a completely plant-based menu. This is an example of a well-defined target group. Young people are the biggest proponents of (more) plant-based diets.

Food transformation is necessary, and I will always repeat that it must involve chefs creating sustainable and tasty dishes and recipes. However, such a transformation should also be sustainable, democratic, and consider the needs of all stakeholders.

The "Plant-Based Universities" campaign has a certain elitism that I find repulsive. On the campaign's website, you can read that a plant-based diet at universities is essential because it shapes the elite. On one hand, this is pragmatic, but on the other, it is harmful because it reinforces the image of a plant-based diet as a privilege of the elite. An alternative would be a fully plant-based public food service.

What could this look like? The simplest and easiest way would be to introduce a plant-based diet at all levels of education, combined with dietary education, and gradually expand it to all other forms of publicly funded nutrition, whether it's milk bars or food distributed to those in need.

I know that the idea of veganizing everything sounds better than the antics of certain politicians, but I wouldn't even insist on veganism. A diet following current recommendations, what we call a balanced diet, will always be 90% plant-based.

In public procurement for various occasions, there is a requirement that catering must comply with the principles of a "good plate." By the way, it's a brilliant name because I don't know if the person who came up with it had this association, but it refers to the "healthy eating plate" that now replaces the old food pyramid in nutrition.

From Cambridge to Końskie, what goes on the plate and who pays for it is becoming an increasingly important political issue. Typically, politicians handle this topic in a very foolish way, showcasing their dramatic ignorance in the fields of dietetics, food, and nutrition. The topic serves as a bludgeon against the opposition.

In the end of "Mephisto," the protagonist cries out, "I am only an actor," playing the role of Biedermann. There is no kitchen today without political characteristics. We are children of an era, an era that is political. All your, our, your daily dishes, nightly dishes, are political dishes.

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