Meat-Free Canteen Days
The discussion
Ingrid: The student union is voting on making the main canteen meat-free two days a week. I'm backing it, because livestock is one of the biggest sources of emissions on campus and most people won't change unless the default changes.
Rafael: I think it's heavy-handed. I come from a farming family, and I eat meat for protein when I'm training; taking the choice away feels like the union deciding what adults can eat.
Aisha: I'm vegetarian myself, so you'd expect me to agree with Ingrid, but I'm not sure bans work. When my old college tried this, people just walked to the burger place across the road, so the emissions moved rather than disappeared.
Ingrid: That's a fair worry, but the canteen could make the vegetarian dishes genuinely good and cheaper, so people have a reason to stay.
Rafael: If it's about pricing and better options, I'd actually support that. Charge a bit more for beef, make the lentil curry excellent, and let people choose.
Aisha: I'd go with that too. Nudging through price and quality seems more likely to stick than two forced days that people resent.
Ingrid: All right, I can live with a pricing approach as a first step, as long as the union reviews the figures after a term.