Berkeley city council passes resolution requiring vegan ‘Green Mondays’

Officials in Berkeley, Calif., have voted to require vegan-only food be served at city events and meetings that take place on Mondays.

The Berkeley city council passed a resolution last week to institute what it calls “Green Mondays,” becoming the first city in the nation to do so, according to ABC7.

{mosads}Berkeley city council member Kate Harrison, who introduced the resolution, told ABC7 that the move will help raise awareness about the negative environmental impacts of meat consumption.

“I’m not asking people to give up meat, I’m asking us all to think about what it is that we do every day, how we can reduce our meat consumption,” Harrison said. “Almost a third of our climate change problem comes from animal husbandry and the meat produced by animals and the pollution produced.”

The city will partner with Green Monday U.S., a national group dedicated to promoting vegan diets as an environmentally-conscious choice.

ABC7 reported that the city council has not yet decided when Green Mondays will begin, but that it is hoping to launch an awareness campaign about the environmental impact of meat production by the end of the year.

Though Berkeley is the first city to implement Green Mondays, a number of cities, towns and business nationwide have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint by introducing bans on some plastic products, like single-use straws.