Motion asks city to support partial plant-based food procurement

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The City of Vancouver isn’t going vegan, but it may soon be partly vegetarian.

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Coun. Pete Fry is proposing a motion to council next week calling for the city to explore shifting to a more plant-based procurement policy.

Fry wants staff to investigate options that include a 20-per-cent reduction in three areas: all animal-based products, the most cost-intensive animal-based products, and/or most carbon-intensive animal-based.

Fry, citing an analysis by the Vancouver Humane Society , said the change could even save the city some money as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the consumption of livestock.

“We definitely see a huge growth in plant-based food consumption and food production in Vancouver,” Fry said. “We’ve been nurturing quite a spectacular ecosystem of plant-based food producers in the city. It’s a real growth industry.”

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Fry has a personal interest in food. He said he recently started making his own beans in an instant pot and knows how to cover kale with olive oil and pop it into the oven to make chips. He just finished making a “big batch” of organic quince and ginger marmalade.

Fry said he has also switched to oak milk by a local company on the advice of friends.

“It tastes just the same in my coffee,” he said. “It has the same thickness of cream. I prefer it to dairy.”

Fry described himself as a “flexitarian” — someone who eats primarily a vegetarian diet supplemented by meat and/or fish.

“I recognize that reducing the amount of meat I eat is definitely better for the planet, and my health,” he said.

Fry said the sustainability of plant-based food companies is definitely a consideration which he hopes staff will explore in its report. The city’s procurement policies already take into account the environmental footprint of suppliers.

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The motion will be debated and voted on next Wednesday at Vancouver city council.

The Vancouver Humane Society analysis said the potential cost-saving of $100,000 to Vancouver taxpayers is based on replacing 20 per cent of the most cost-intensive products with plant-based alternatives.

As well, the switch could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 500 tonnes and save almost 400 farm animals annually.

Emily Pickett, campaign director for the Vancouver Humane Society, said other cities that have started shifting municipal food purchases include Berkeley, Calif., which recently set a target to move to more plant-based foods, and New York, which plans to reduce beef purchasing by 50 per cent.

She said Toronto is one of 14 cities that are part of a global network called C40 Cities that has committed to looking at how municipal food purchases can support a sustainable diet.

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“We’re hopeful that more cities will follow suit and begin to look at how they can take similar positive actions within their communities,” she said by email.

Pickett said research has shown that plant-based foods are less resource-intensive than animal-based foods. It takes 15,415 litres of water to produce one kg of beef, compared to 2,520 litres to produce one kg of tofu.

The VHS analysis is based on the city’s food procurement practices covering concessions at Vancouver civic theatres, city event catering contracts, low-cost meal programs, concession stands in parks and golf courses, and the Vancouver School Board’s Food4Schools program.

kevingriffin@postmedia.com