Scottish politicians unexpectedly back vegan challenge

MSPs from various political parties have joined forces to support a charity’s week-long vegan challenge by submitting a motion to the Scottish Parliament.

The motion, lodged yesterday by Mark Ruskell MSP from the Scottish Green Party, congratulates The Vegan Society on its successful Plate Up for the Planet campaign that encourages participants to eat vegan for a week.

Earlier this week the charity announced that the number of participants has reached a 10,000 milestone, saving enough carbon dioxide to fly to the moon and back .

The motion cites some astonishing facts and calls on the Scottish Government to accept “that emissions from animal agriculture is a major contributor to climate change” and to “take account of the carbon footprint of the food that is provided in the public sector”.

It also references the upcoming climate change bill, urging ministers to “be more ambitious when setting their targets for the agriculture sector in the climate change bill, in particular with regard to addressing methane emissions from animal agriculture”.