Council should go Meat-Free to promote Sustainability

Manchester City Council should be championing more ‘Green’ and Sustainability initiatives say Manchester’s Liberal Democrats. The Lib Dems have put forward a Council motion calling on the Council to introduce a raft of radical Green policies such as going Meat-free one day a week, declaring opposition to controversial Fracking for gas, offsetting flights from Manchester Airport, and sourcing all Council electricity from Green providers.

I am propposing the motion at tommorow morning's Council meeting. Our motion is calling for the Council to acknowledge that it has a huge part to play in tackling Climate change and creating a sustainable green City. One way the Council can do this is to remove meat from the menu one day a week; evidence shows Vegetarian and Vegan diets have only a fraction of the carbon emissions of meat-based diets.

The Council will not have any authority to help residents become more ‘green’ if they are not promoting sustainability in everything they do. If our motion is agreed it will reaffirm establish commitments and introduce a number of policies that will reduce carbon emissions in Manchester, protect biodiversity, promote sustainable transport and make Manchester a better place to live.

Among the other policies being proposed are: a Bee Action Plan, reduced supermarket waste, continued opposition to Nuclear, improved recycling rates, introduction of 20mph limits in residential areas, and promotion of cycling including a cycle carriage on off-peak Metrolink trams and longer distance bus services.

The Liberal Democrat motion is available as item 17 at: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/egov_downloads/11_July_2012.pdf

Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, John Leech, has previously tabled a Parliamentary motion calling for Parliament to go "meat-free" on Mondays: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/669

This article appeared in the Manchester Evening News on 11 July: