Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Corporate Services

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/013

Contact: Vic Kurzeja, Director of Joint Property Team Tel: 07726 307813

Report by Corporate Director Commercial Development, Assets and Investments (CA6).

To action the Council motion.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a)               Ensure that food provided at full Council meetings and all civic events is entirely plant based and, where possible, sustainably and locally sourced.

b)              Endorse a graduated approach to incorporating plant-based options for school meals provided by the council, in partnership with schools who buy this service and in line with School Food Guidelines.

c)               Agree to the development of an Oxfordshire County Council food policy to support the delivery of sustainable food provision and its disposal within the Council.

Recommendations agreed

Cabinet had before it a report setting out some initial measures to enable the council to meet its strategic priorities following an approved motion to Full Council on this matter in December 2021.

Before considering the report, the Chair had agreed to hear a number of speakers.

Councillor Ian Middleton, who proposed the motion to Full Council, responded to complaints that the motion limited free will, noting that climate-focussed limitations on our lives were now commonplace.  Many organisations across the world were now recognising the part that food choice played. There was overwhelming scientific evidence that intensive livestock farming was one of the greatest contributors to global climate change.

The issue had never been about veganism which was a personal choice.  The previous administration unanimously declared a climate change emergency and this was what climate action looked like.  Councillor Middleton described the proposals as a positive outcome for local food producers, helping to inform a long overdue food strategy which prioritised sourcing from local producers.

He was concerned though that the recommendations did not clearly reflect aspects in relation to schools in his original motion and asked Cabinet members to clarify this in their comments.

Karl Franklin asked Cabinet to reject the proposal to serve only plant-based food and instead adopt a sustainable policy to promote balanced diets and help bolster the local economy.  He said that the local agriculture sector can be part of the solution.  By buying locally the Council would support growers, producers, processors, food manufacturers and distributors.

Karl Franklin quoted statistics to show that British beef had half the greenhouse gas emissions compared to the global average and the amount of antibiotics used on British farms had been reduced by over 50%.  He called on the Council to back British farming.

Linda Newbury stated that Councils, schools and organisations must take a lead in demonstrating that food can be both nourishing and sustainable, and that meant a move away from meat as a priority choice.  Farmers demonstrating outside County Hall last month carried placards asking Oxfordshire to support local food and farming. She said that the placard she brought with her carried an identical message.  They were essentially on the same side.

Linda Newbury added that when school caterers shift towards plant-based meals, there will be an overall reduction of cost, but meat will still be served on three days each week which was a legal requirement. This saving can be used to ensure that the meat served is produced locally and sustainably.  She believed that before this there had been no council specification that meat used in school catering should be locally sourced.

Jimmy Pierson, Director of ProVeg UK, a non-profit organisation whose main aim was to increase the health and sustainability of school food in the UK by increasing the quantity and quality of plant-based food in schools.  He noted that if the recommendations were adopted, the Council would be joining many other councils across the country that were embracing the benefits  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31