By Isla Glen

The University of Stirling’s Student Union has announced it will only serve plant-based food by 2025.

The motion was submitted by the Plant-Based Universities group and was passed on November 10 with a 55.5 per cent vote in favour.

In total, 70 out of 127 students who attended the meeting passed the motion. The university has approximately 17 000 students, meaning fewer than 0.01 per cent voted.

Only Studio, Venue and Underground Coffee Shop will be vegan, with Macrobert Arts Centre Café, Scran, Nourish and other university outlets remaining unaffected.

The pledge states that 50 per cent of the Union’s food will be plant-based by the 2023/2024 academic year before transitioning to 100 per cent by 2025.

It is thought that Stirling is the first Student Union in the UK to commit to plant-based catering. A similar concept was rejected at Edinburgh University in 2020.

The Plant-Based Universities campaign is made up of institutions across the UK that are aiming to “end complicity in the climate crisis”.

The motion claims that plant-based food “is a necessary step in the development of a more sustainable food system, and to reduce the climatic effect on the planet” and was supported by George Monbiot and Chris Packham.

However, the decision has received backlash. Mo Metcalf-Fisher, a spokesman for the Countryside Alliance told the Daily Mail: ” Obviously this is an attack on freedom of choice imposed by a tiny number of students on the wider student body, but it is also illogical.

“Stirling’s students’ union would be much better off sourcing sustainable local meat and dairy produce from Scottish farmers instead.

“How can an avocado flown in from South America have eco-superiority over a piece of grass fed beef from a local farm?

“Stirling University should demonstrate their support for Scottish farmers by ensuring they continue to supply meat and dairy, irrespective of what its students’ union decide to do.”

A spokesperson for the University of Stirling’s Union said: “It was noted at the meeting that as the impact of what was passed would have a commercial implication for the charity, this would require further scrutiny to establish how the Union could move towards supporting the motion. We look forward to working with the proposer on that basis.”

The campaigners behind the motion are set to work with the Union as it transitions to “cheap, delicious and eco-friendly” plant-based catering.