From now on, when you order food for meetings and conferences that are financed by AU, vegetarian meals are the standard choice. It is still possible to order alternatives with meat, but you must actively choose to do so.
The initiative only covers catering for meetings, conferences and similar events that are arranged and financed by AU. This also applies to conferences/seminars hosted by AU that do not take place on campus.
The new initiative defines vegetarian meals as OVO-LACTO vegetarian. This means that the food will be primarily plant based and may contain egg and dairy products, but it will not contain any meat, poultry, fish or shellfish.
The canteens at AU are in the process of developing a varied and appealing range of vegetarian dishes. Such dishes may include raita with chili and mint, frying pan pizza with potatoes and olives, falafel or egg salad sandwiches, Moroccan soup, tarte tatin, Mexican rice dishes, spiced potato wedges with sesame, burritos and much more. The goal is to offer something that is just as inviting and tasty as meat-based dishes.
When you order catering, you still have to contact the individual canteen. Simply follow the instructions given by the canteen. For example, if you normally use an order form, the form is now updated with vegetarian as the standard choice, so it remains as simple as possible to order catering.
The initiative is a part of AU’s green transition, and the goal is to make AU’s catering more climate friendly, since the carbon footprint from meat-based dishes is significantly larger than from vegetarian dishes. For example, ground beef (with 5-10% fat) emits 34.19 kg of CO2e per kilo of beef while potatoes emit 0.36 kg of CO2e per kilo of potatoes.
See more in the overview from Denmark’s Green Think Tank (CONCITO).
In addition, the initiative is in line with the Climate Council’s recommendations for public canteens.
