We propose that, in the face of the climate emergency, Gwynedd Council add a weekly meat-free day to the school meal programme in order to help tackle the climate crisis. Our schools’ purpose is to prepare us for the future. To protect that future, we should be acting to protect the planet.  

Meat and dairy are associated with very high carbon emissions and biodiversity loss in their production, and we know that our diets will have to change soon if we are to avoid climate catastrophe. Adjusting the menu so that one day per week is meat-free will broaden students’ horizons and give them a better understanding of the changes that we need to make to become sustainable. It’ll be a step in the right direction of making our lives more sustainable, and we think that these meals will be just as delicious. Vegetarian and vegan diets are becoming increasingly popular as people come to appreciate the benefits of lowering meat and dairy consumption for the planet.

The S6 duty of the environment act requires that public authorities such as Cyngor Gwynedd seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity so far as consistent with the proper exercise of their functions and in so doing promote the resilience of ecosystems. As providing school meals is one of the council's duties, it must consider the impact of doing so on biodiversity, and take action to reduce that impact.

In the climate emergency we're facing, it's crucial that we act boldly, to protect our futures before it's too late.

-XR Youth North Wales

Sources:
https://www.vox.com/2014/7/2/5865109/study-going-vegetarian-could-cut-your-food-carbon-footprint-in-half
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2016/3/section/6/enacted
 

Rydym yn bwriadu, o ganlyniad i'r argyfwng hinsawdd, bod Cyngor Gwynedd yn ychwanegu diwrnod llysieuol unwaith yr wythnos i'r rhaglen pryd i helpu taclu'r argyfwng hinsawdd. Pwrpas ein hysgolion yw ein paratoi i'r dyfodol. Er mwyn amddiffyn ein dyfodol, ddylem bod yn gweithredu er mwyn amddiffyn ein planed.

Mae cig a llaethdy yn cysylltiedig a allyriadau carbon uchel iawn a golled o bioamrywiaeth yn ei cynhyrchiad, a gwyddwn ni y bydd rhaid i ni gyd newid ein deietau i osgoi trychineb hinsawdd. Fe fydd addasu'r bwydlen i un pryd llysieuol yr wythnos yn ehangu gorwelion disgyblion a rhoi dealltwriaeth gwell o'r newidiadau mae rhaid i ni wneud i wneud ein bywydau yn gynaliadwy. Mae deietau llysieuwr a fegan yn dod yn fwy poblogaidd gan fod pobl yn dechrau gwerthfarogi'r buddiannau o lleihau ein cymeriant o gig a cynnyrch llaeth ar y blaned.

Mae dyletswydd adran 6 o’r deddf amgylchedd yn gofyn bod awdurdodau lleol fel Cyngor Gwynedd yn ceisio cynnal a mwyhau bioamrywiaeth lle mae’n ymwneud a’u gweithrediadau, er mwyn hybu gwydnwch ecosystemau.

Yn yr argyfwng hinsawdd rydym yn gwynebu, mae’n rhaid bod ni yn gweithredu gyda dewder, er mwyn arbed ein dyfodol, cyn ei bod hi’n rhy hwyr.

Ffynhonellau:
https://www.vox.com/2014/7/2/5865109/study-going-vegetarian-could-cut-your-food-carbon-footprint-in-half
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2016/3/section/6/enacted