Fenland Council votes to oppose compulsory veganism in win for farmers

In a bid to ‘reduce food miles to our tables’, Fenland councillors also committed to exploring ways of encouraging residents to ‘shop local’

Fenland Council has voted to oppose compulsory veganism in a swipe at neighbouring 'plant-based-only' Cambridge.

In what rural campaigners have dubbed a “win for common sense”, Fenland District Council has become the latest local authority to back local farmers.

The move comes after Cambridge City Council pledged to move towards "fully plant-based catering for future council meetings where food is served” in May 2022.

Fenland councillors passed a motion ensuring that all catering at council-organised events is sourced from local producers, specifically including meat and dairy options, alongside plant-based produce.

In a bid to ‘reduce food miles to our tables’, councillors also committed to exploring ways of encouraging residents to ‘shop local’.

The motion was unanimously voted through by the district’s 43 councillors.

Fenland now becomes the latest council to defy pro-vegan campaigns successful elsewhere, which have seen councils - including Oxfordshire and the London Borough of Enfield - ban meat and dairy products at their events.

Fenland is the fifth council in a matter of weeks to defy calls for it to “go vegan”, after Portsmouth, Suffolk, Cornwall, and North Northamptonshire councils voted to keep meat and dairy on their menus.

In supporting the motion, several councillors warned against local authorities taking away freedom of choice.

Cllr Steve Tierney argued "it is not the job of councils or governments to instruct people on how they should feed themselves” while Cllr Elisabeth Sennitt Clough said "the minute we start taking away people’s choices, it’s a slippery slope.”

And Cllr James Carney said: “It is important that a local authority should be seen to support its local food and drink producers.

"We do have a good number of them in this district alone. It is important to remember that there is a choice out there.”

The motion received cross-party support, with Liberal Democrat Cllr Gavin Booth saying "I am a liberal and I believe in free choice."

The Countryside Alliance, which is pushing councils to back local farmers of all sectors, said the result was one for "common sense and freedom of choice".

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs at the group, said: “Fenland has a proud farming heritage and that has now been officially recognised.

"I sincerely hope the action taken in Fenland sends Cambridge a message and that the governing Labour authority there swiftly rejects and reverses any move to ban meat and dairy from their menus”.