Rural campaigners are urging a council to re-think their environmental priorities following a u-turn which saw meat introduced to the menu of its new eco café after public feedback.
The Countryside Alliance said the original decision to serve only vegan and vegetarian menu items at a Bournemouth beach eco cafe was "short sighted" and "doomed to fail".
The organisation argues that Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) should instead showcase British farming, including livestock, if it wants to "show off its green credentials".
The £2.4m Environmental Innovation Hub at Durley Chine on Bournemouth seafront was built out of recycled materials collected from the sea to highlight plastic pollution.
In keeping with its green message, the council imposed a vegetarian-only menu for the food kiosk at the hub, selling vegetarian sausage rolls, steak-less pasties and vegan cakes.
But following customer feedback, the council has revised the menu to include meat and dairy products.
Now rural campaigners at the Countryside Alliance have said that council leaders "should have known this meatless menu project was doomed to fail".
They have urged the council to work with local farmers to supply produce for menu items, including meat and dairy.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, a spokesman for the group, said: "The vast bulk of the British public enjoy meat as part of a balanced diet and there’s no sign of that changing.
“There’s a dangerous misconception that ‘going green’ must equal the eradication of meat. This is totally untrue and threatens the future of the countryside we all know and love."
He added that councils, particularly those based in rural counties like Dorset, should "not be normalising anti-livestock farming sentiment".
“If the council truly wish to show off their green credentials, they will commit to supplying sustainable, local produce on their menu."
It comes in the face of several motions passed at other councils across the UK, which encourage residents to buy ‘plant-based’ produce in a move away from meat, while also committing to only source vegan options for councillors at events.
Oxfordshire County Council sparked outrage among farmers in 2021, when it passed a motion to ban meat and dairy at its events.
At the time, the council justified the policy saying it was "in the interest health of our planet and the health of our people."
Three councils, Edinburgh City Council, Norwich City Council and Haywards Heath Town Council in Sussex, have also signed up to the ‘Plant-Based Treaty’.
