In a blow to the animal agriculture industry and in an effort to combat climate change, Scottish politicians are urging their country’s residents to try veganism for seven days.





Green Party MSP Mark Ruskell lodged a motion to the Scottish Parliament urging ministers to “take account of the carbon footprint” of the food provided in the public sector by supporting The Vegan Society’s seven-day vegan challenge, Plate Up for the Planet. In this challenge, people are encouraged to eat exclusively vegan food for seven days to help fight climate change. Participants are sent facts about veganism and recipes to help them through the challenge.





Plate Up for the Planet promises consumers a chance to cut their food-related carbon footprint by up to 50 percent. In a statement to the agriculture-industry-based Farmer’s Guardian , Ruskell said:

The Scottish Parliament will be considering both a Climate Change and Food Policy bill before the end of this session, and the Scottish Greens will be pushing for measures in both to tackle emissions from animal agriculture and using public procurement to lead the way for healthier food that has a lower impact on the planet.

This motion is supported by members of several parties, including the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish National Party, and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. It calls on the government to accept that emissions from animal agriculture are a major contributor to climate change and urges the government “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.”

These aren’t the first politicians to promote a vegan diet to fight climate change. In May 2017, members of the Danish Parliament took a 22-day vegan challenge. And earlier in the year, Germany’s federal minister for the environment banned meat from official government functions.





According to a recent survey, the number of vegans in Britain has risen 360 percent in the last 10 years!







Ditching animal products is one of the best ways to fight climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions from raising farmed animals make up about 15 percent of global human-induced emissions, with beef and milk production being the leading culprits, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.





By switching to a compassionate, healthy vegan lifestyle, we not only spare animals from intense suffering and cruel exploitation but fight to save the planet.



