Thank you for inviting us to speak to our petition. As well as being from go vegan Scotland, I am a solicitor specialising in vegan law. I will speak to the human rights and equality position in relation to vegan rights, and Mark Banahan will speak to tackling climate change and improving health.
Vegans have legal protection under human rights and equality law because the vegan philosophy passes the test for a non-religious belief—that is, it is serious, cogent and worthy of respect. The vegan philosophy is essentially that, because animals are alive in the same way that we are, we should not use or kill them. The European Court of Human Rights has confirmed that that philosophy qualifies, and that has been conceded by the United Kingdom Government and acknowledged by the Scottish Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The protected status of veganism means that we have a right to live in a way that avoids using or killing animals—or paying somebody else to do that for us—and not to be discriminated against on account of our veganism. That applies in the public and private spheres, although our focus today is on the public sphere, where there is an additional obligation to take positive steps to address inequality.
Unfortunately, there is very little awareness of the rights of vegans—we know that from the many cases that have been reported to us. To get a broader picture, we carried out a survey of Scottish vegans. More than 500 responded, and they highlighted a systemic failure across the Scottish public sector, particularly in hospitals and schools, to provide for vegans.
In many of our hospitals, vegans are not provided for at all, leaving vegan patients having to rely on family or friends to bring in food, or having to discharge themselves before they are well enough. Not everyone has family or friends who can cater for them in that way, and many wards do not allow food to be brought in.
Many examples were provided in response to our survey, and the full results are available on the go vegan Scotland website. One person said:
“I was in for two weeks when my son was born and they said they couldn’t cater for me. My partner had to bring in all my meals. I wasn’t allowed to use their fridge or microwave”.
Another person said:
“A particular issue is that it is not possible to pre-book dietary requirements”.
Someone else said that the hospital chef told them that
“he was under no obligation to provide”
for them.
Scotland’s schools do not generally have meals that are suitable for vegans. Most have vegetarian options but they generally contain dairy or eggs, or both. Even when vegan parents specifically request provision for their children, in many instances they are told that schools do not have to provide for them. I was contacted just yesterday by a vegan mother living in Glasgow who is trying to get suitable food for her daughter in nursery. Glasgow City Council has refused. One respondent to our survey said:
“Our local primary has vegetarian but not vegan options. In order to obtain ‘other’ dietary requirements you have to prove medical need.”
Someone else said that, for their children, the
“Only vegan school dinner option is dry baked potato ... They do not do school dinners for this reason. This means ... my youngest misses out on ... free school meals ... and is the only child ... Who”
takes a “packed lunch.”
We have also learned that some food providers are under the impression that they cannot provide vegan meals in schools unless there is a health requirement that is signed off by a national health service professional. There is clearly a lot of misinformation, which is resulting in vegan children being refused suitable food, including those who are entitled to free meals. The Scottish Government’s position is that it is up to local authorities is not good enough when local authorities are failing and refusing to provide vegan meals.
The Government must take steps to ensure that there is consistent provision across the country, and the proposed legislation would be the best way to achieve that. Mark will now speak to the environmental and health benefits of vegan food.