Nearly 50,000 people are supporting a petition to ban the sale of beef products across the entire University of California (UC) system—one of the world’s largest university systems with approximately 300,000 students. The petition comes after United Kingdom-based college Goldsmiths announced it had banned all beef from being served on its campuses as part of the school’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2025. Goldsmith, which is part of the University of London and has approximately 10,000 students, decided to significantly reduce their contribution to climate change after students and staff discovered that their carbon footprint was disproportionately large—3.7 million kilograms (8.2 million pounds) of carbon emissions each year. The UC petition also points out a landmark study by the University of Oxford that concluded going vegan is the “single biggest way” to reduce one’s environmental impact, and that beef in particular is responsible for 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based proteins. The creators of the UC petition believe that more universities need to follow the precedent set by Goldsmiths.
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