Planning to study in the UK? College menus are getting more vegan-friendly!

March 17th, 2023

When Indian student Saurabh Savla told his family that he wanted to study abroad, specifically in the UK, one of the first questions his mom asked was, “What will you eat there?” 

A majority of Indians, being vegetarians or consuming non-vegetarian food limited to poultry and fish, struggle to find food in meat-heavy countries such as the UK. The chances of Indian students eating beef or pork are very minimal. That’s why Indian parents insist their kids learn how to cook and send almost an entire grocery store with them when they leave for their international universities! 

But this would not be required anymore if you are looking at UK Universities. Colleges across the United Kingdom are shifting to plant-based and vegan-friendly menus. When and how did this movement start? Which universities are already offering vegan menus? This article covers all of this and more. Keep reading. 

UK’S REVOLUTIONARY PLANT-BASED UNIVERSITIES (PBU) CAMPAIGN

Started in 2021, a student-led outreach called The Plant-Based Universities campaign is demanding UK universities to move towards a 100% plant-based menu in their cafeterias by 2025, with at least major menu changes initiated within 2023-24. 

The campaign that started at University College London, King’s College London and University of Warwick, has now spread to over 40 universities across the UK!

Why was the PBU campaign launched?

The PBU campaign is motivated by climate emergency and environmental concerns. As non-profit animal rights organisation, Surge says “The student population are statistically the most likely demographic to be supportive of such a (climate) claim with the highest proportion of vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians. They are also the population group most concerned about the climate crisis.” 

Further building on this, PBU says, “The oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford, has published several papers exploring and explaining the environmental benefits of transitioning to plant-based foods. Besides this, dozens of British universities have declared a climate emergency. Evidently, these institutions are recognising the need for drastic change.”

PBU adds, “Students are listening to the science that, very often, their own universities publish. They are holding their institutions accountable to their sustainability promises and commitments. By transitioning to just and sustainable plant-based food systems, universities will be securing a future, not only for their students, but for the rest of humanity, animals, and the planet.”

Some recent vegan news and wins from the PBU campaigns

1. The first win for the campaign was at Stirling University. The student union agreed to go 100% plant-based by 2025 (50% by 2023-24) at 3 student union-owned outlets. 

2. The University of Cambridge’s catering services started reducing animal products by removing beef and lamb from its offering way back in 2016. And now, in February 2023, their student union voted to support a transition to a 100% vegan menu across its catering service. 

3. Queen Mary Student Union voted and agreed to go 100% plant-based by 2028-29 in its catering, starting first with 60%.  

4. University College London has made plant-based milk the default across all campus outlets.

5. University of Swansea’s Student Union has committed to making one of the cafes fully meat-free!

6. London Metropolitan University has negotiated with its food provider for meat-free Mondays. 

OTHER VEGAN-FRIENDLY UK UNIVERSITIES

While the list given above mentions those universities where PBU campaigns have taken place and tasted success, there are other colleges as well that offer plant-based options. 

Aditya Vajapeyam, an Indian student at London School of Economics (LSE), gets vegan food options such as noodles with tofu, pizza with vegan cheese, rice and veggies, and plant-based meat dishes at his university. In fact, one of LSE’s cafes i.e. Shaw’s is 100% vegetarian/vegan.

Another Indian student, Saurabh Savla from Oxford Brookes University gets 25% vegan and vegetarian options in the college menu. The options include plant-based milks, vegetarian croissants, avocado toast, vegan burgers and pizzas, vegan sausage rolls, a variety of vegan soups, mac and cheese, etc.

PETA has a broader, more comprehensive list of vegan friendly UK universities. They maintain an updated list of the Most Vegan Friendly Universities in the UK, which contains 34 UK universities. 

Here are some examples of why PETA featured these universities on its list:

1. At Cardiff’s eateries, vegan food options account for 50% of the menu. The university had also held vegan events like cookery demonstrations, food giveaways, and a three-course dinner to celebrate World Vegan Month 2021.

2. Imperial College London’s vegan cafe, Plantworks, has innovative vegan dishes specially prepared by vegan chef Christopher Herbert. These include the Moving Mountains burger with vegan cheese, coronation tofu salad, and a tomato and chickpea pasta baked with three “cheese” crust. 

3. Roots Café in Bush House, King’s College London, is fully vegan and has fairtrade coffee. It offers a daily changing, multi-cuisine hot lunch counter, salad bar, snacks, cakes, and grab-and-go options. 

4. London School of Economics has a vegan loyalty scheme. Its menus list plant-based dishes at the top. They encourage vegan food by adding carbon labelling to inform people about the benefits of choosing vegan for the planet.

5. Vegan street food pop-ups are a regular occurrence at Nottingham Trent University campus. Its climate crisis event had fully vegan catering.

VEGAN OPTIONS GALORE IN THE UK BEYOND UNIVERSITIES

In 2022, the UK, once again topped Chef’s Pencil’s annual 'Most Popular Countries For Veganism' rankings based on Google Trends, with Brighton being deemed ‘the vegan capital of the world’. 

Also, as per Deliveroo, more restaurants than ever - a whopping 15,000 across the UK - introduced plant-based menus and dishes to their regular offering in 2022. 

Several supermarket chains situated around universities, such as Tesco and Sainsbury, have vegan meal deals and ready-to-heat vegan dishes. Vegetarian tiffin services too are available. 

So dear Indian moms, our kids will no longer need to starve in the UK, agreed?