Berkeley’s city council has approved an ordinance that demands to slash its animal-based products spending by half by 2024, moving the city to start serving vegan food at public gatherings, jails, senior centers and city buildings.
The city’s Mayor Jesse Arreguín has co-sponsored the said measure, being the first-of-its-kind. It calls for the progressive city to provide plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and seeds at public buildings.
The development is the outcome of the push initiated by Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, an animal rights group in Berkeley, that moves to advocate the same in San Francisco, Chicago, and other major cities.
DxE has pushed for Berkeley to serve 100 percent plant-based food but the city refused to go all out.
Schools were exempted from the ordinance as they were under the independent school district operation.
The resolution cites the reduction of meat and dairy consumption as part of Berkeley’s efforts to combat climate change by slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
The city has also been recognized to have initiated multiple measures that concern the environment, KRON4 reported.
In 2019, it became the first city in the nation to prohibit natural gas lines from new buildings and in the 1970s, it was also the first to enforce a trash recycling program.
