University of Lucerne: Canteen goes vegetarian-vegan
Patrik Scheidegger, COO Gastronomy at ZFV-Unternehmungen, elaborates: "We are very pleased to accompany the staff, students, and other guests at the canteen in the Uni/PH building in Lucerne throughout the day with a fresh and healthy dining concept."
The canteen in Lucerne will offer vegetarian and vegan dishes in future.
The University of the City of Lucerne has announced that the canteen will become vegetarian-vegan from the end of August. As part of a change of operator, the catering concept will be restructured.
The canteen will be taken over by ZFV, a cooperatively organized company that won the public tender. Founded in 1894, the company operates further catering establishments in Lucerne, including at the Swiss Museum of Transport, at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and at the XUND Education Center.
ZFV's strong focus on sustainability, regionality, and seasonality was the deciding factor, according to a statement. Its forward-looking staff policy was also convincing.
The idea of a university canteen offering exclusively vegetarian or even vegan dishes sounds like a climate-friendly decision. After all, science repeatedly demonstrateswhat consequences the high consumption of animal products has for our livelihoods. But also for the environment, animals, and our health.
Added to this is the fact that the proportion of people who eat vegetarian or vegan is particularly high among those under 30 — precisely the people who will also be most severely affected by the consequences of the climate crisis.
However, the benefits of a meat-free diet are frequently cancelled out by increased consumption of concentrated dairy products such as cheese or yoghurt. Animals also suffer and die in dairy production — it is part of the system. There are therefore many good reasons not to drink milk.
Anyone who truly wants to eat in a way that is kind to animals and the climate should choose the vegan dishes in the canteen. In Lucerne and elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the switch to a veggie menu at the University of Lucerne's canteen is of course also symbolic! And with that, it doesn't only find open ears.
Agricultural associations, butchers, and some media outlets are up in arms about the alleged «paternalism«, when meat is no longer offered in the university canteen. Yet it is precisely the other way around: A diet that destroys the foundations of life is paternalism. A plant-based diet is the most important step toward a more sustainable lifestyle that every individual can take.
