THE Vegan Society has accused Herefordshire Council of not doing enough to support vegans in the county. 

The society said its new report reveals the extent to which councils across the UK are recognising their responsibility to cater for vegan diets and taking steps to address the climate emergency through a shift to plant-based catering.

Freedom of Information requests were sent to 209 councils asking whether they took into account the fact that veganism is a protected characteristic in food provision, served vegan options as standard in onsite catering or required options to be served in procurement contracts, and whether they had meat and dairy reduction plans. 

But, the report said, Herefordshire Council is among 54 of the local authorities that the society categorised as 'red', meaning that it has not taken steps to be inclusive of veganism or to address meat and dairy consumption in order to meet climate targets.

A Vegan Society spokesperson said the report reveals that a quarter of councils did not acknowledge their responsibility to consider veganism as a protected characteristic when making catering decisions and many public sector menus frequently fail to consistently include a single vegan option.

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"In the UK, veganism is recognised as a protected belief and councils have a legal responsibility to provide adequate options for those who choose to live a vegan lifestyle," the spokesperson said.

"In addition to their legal responsibility to cater for vegans, the National Food Strategy has recommended that local authorities act to promote sustainable diets in order to reduce emissions in response to the climate crisis.

"Moving away from animal products is an essential step in achieving this, with plant-based diets producing just 25 per cent of the emissions compared to one that includes meat."

The Vegan Society is urging councils ranked as 'red' in the report to reassess their vegan catering provisions and follow the precedent set by councils ranked as 'green'.

Good examples, according to the society, include Oxfordshire County Council, which they said ensures that the catering for external meetings is completely plant-based and one-third of meals in the local primary schools are vegan.