Gautam Buddha University Veganized Close To 1 Million Meals This Year

Multiple reports have identified animal agriculture as one of the leading causes of climate change. One such example is the most recent report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2019), which emphasized a shift towards plant-based diets as a major opportunity to limit greenhouse gas emissions. 

To address these issues, the international animal protection group Vegan Outreach(VO) launched the Green Tuesday Initiative to help institutions become more sustainable. Some universities they’ve worked with have implemented meatless days, while others have reduced the number of eggs and dairy products served in their canteens. Most recently, Gautam Buddha University (GBU), a large public university in North India, veganised nearly 960,000 meals every year and signed a pledge to not serve meat on the campus. 

"We took the Green Tuesday pledge because we want to reduce our impact on the environment," said Shri Bachchu Singh, Registrar of GBU, "One of the easiest ways to do that is by making small changes in the food served on campus. We hope that other universities will follow our example and become more eco-friendly." 

Earlier this year, Vegan Outreach and students at Lovely Professional University—a top private university that has the world's largest residential capacity—worked with the administration to change the menu and bring VO’s Green Tuesday initiative to the campus. The university went on to reduce milk consumption on its campus by 14%. 

"From individuals to large institutions, everyone is starting to make the connection between animal agriculture and climate change," said Aneeha Patwardhan, Director of Programs, India at Vegan Outreach. "We applaud this growing awareness and we're here to support anyone who wants to act on these issues." 

In addition to GBU and LPU, ten other universities and schools have signed Vegan Outreach's Green Tuesday pledge so far. VO has also taken the initiative to hostel chain Zostel in India and Nepal and is currently working with several corporate offices in India.