One of the UK’s leading farming colleges was forced to apologise after encouraging its students to try out a vegan diet.
Bishop Burton College in East Yorkshire introduced both “Meat Free Mondays” and “Wellbeing Wednesdays” at its on-site cafe. But furious students and farmers alike insisted the school should be “banging the drum for the sector” instead of suggesting a vegan diet could be healthier.
It received an influx of angry comments after making a “Happy Veganuary” Facebook post which advertised the canteen’s plant-based meals. It said it would not serve meat in its kitchens for two days a week “to promote a health diet contributing to good mental health as well as sustainability”.
Students and farmers insisted the college should be promoting the industry instead.
It offers apprenticeships at an abattoir and butcher and allows students to raise pigs, cattle and sheep.
The student council made the request for meat-free options to be available, it is understood, although has since apologised for the Facebook post. It said it would still offer “several additional plant-based options throughout January alongside our meat-based menu.”
The Countryside Alliance, which promotes rural farming, described promoting veganism as a “well-intentioned gimmick fo social media.”
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs for the Alliance, said: “In reality, it sends an utterly false message that livestock farming and the consumption of meat and dairy are incompatible with fighting climate change. British farmers are part of the solution to climate change, not the problem.”
Former students have also argued the insinuation that a vegan diet is healthier is inaccurate. Studies have suggested that some meat-replacement foods are “ultra-processed” and no healthier than their meat equivalents – although they are not essential to a vegan diet.
Anna Longthorp, 41, a former student at Bishop Burton and now a free-range pig farmer, told the Times: “The post insinuated that veganism is healthier and promotes good mental health and sustainability. I find it outrageous that an agricultural college is not just implying but promoting this message.
“Farmers are also getting a fair old bashing regarding the environment and a multitude of other things. I’m not sure where people think their food is going to come from when farmers decide to call it a day ― as many are doing.”
Cereal farmer near Liverpool, Olly Harrison, 42, added: “They should be banging the drum for it [meat farming] not doing it the other way round. The staff there need to remember where their wages come from.”
The college’s principal has apologised for the “impression” the post gave.
He said: “As a specialist land-based college, our core business is agriculture and we recognise the importance of livestock production to sustainable farming systems and to a healthy balanced diet.”
Other universities have also seen pressure to adopt meat-free menus. Cambridge’s Plant-Based Universities launched a campaign to make cafes and canteens to produce a “100 percent plant-based” menu.
And in November, students at the University of Warwick backed a motion forcing union-run catering outlets to adopt plant-based menus, with three now required to do so by 2027.
