Stockholm University Student Council Votes for 100% Plant-Based Catering

Niccolò Mattioti, treasurer of SCEG, and Alva Åkerlind, Chairperson of SCEG.

On the 5th of March, the Student Council of Environmental and Geosciences (SCEG) at Stockholm University unanimously voted to adopt 100% plant-based catering. Motivated by a commitment to sustainable catering practices, the student council’s new bylaw states that: “Food items bought with money from the student council and food items intended for public consumption during council meetings and council activities should be plant-based, i.e. containing no animal ingredients.” 

The SCEG adopted this bylaw following collaboration with Plant-Based Campus (PBC). PBC is a student-led campaign working for higher education institutions to adopt 100% plant-based catering to tackle the climate and environmental crises. This policy change not only has a material impact on the environment, but also sends a clear signal that as educational institutions hold a unique position within society, they have a responsibility to both be a place of learning and to establish new norms. 

This bylaw aligns the SCEG with not only PBC’s goals, but also the overwhelming scientific consensus that we cannot address major environmental crises without improving our food system. Research from the Stockholm Resilience Center, a world-leading research center focused on sustainability and located at Stockholm University, states that “eating new plant-based foods can be good for the environment, your health and your economy”.

Alva Åkerlind, Chariperson of the SCEG, said:

“As students at the environmental and geosciences section, we are acutely aware of the negative impacts animal agriculture has on the climate, environment and animal welfare. As we strive to reduce our operation’s footprint, we have used plant-based products exclusively for our organised events for some time now. Now we’ve also passed a unanimous vote to edit our bylaws to include this as a requirement. By officially stating in our bylaws that our operation is fully plant based, we hope to sustain this initiative long term and inspire other SUS-affiliated student councils to do the same.”

This vote shows that students are capable of leading meaningful action in accordance with the current environmental crises. PBC celebrates this win, and hopes to see other university stakeholders adopt similar policies.

Plant-Based Campus is a student-led campaign working with universities and higher education institutions to transition to 100% plant-based catering to reduce emissions. Plant-Based Campus is currently active at 11 universities across the Nordics.