BruinMUN 31 is Plant-Based by Default
Learn more about our responsible food policy and how you can help make a difference.
Our Policy
BruinMUN 31 will serve plant-based meals and refreshments by default, while giving advisors and staff the choice to opt into meat and/or dairy options upon request. This commitment allows us to extend our core values of sustainability and inclusivity to our food choices and is in line with official recommendations from several United Nations bodies.
If all 2000 BruinMUN 31 attendees, advisors, and staff ate plant-based lunches for two days, we could save…
1,466,447 gallons of water
That’s as much as 58,658 ten minute showers
27,143 lbs of CO2
That’s like driving 35,251 miles in the average passenger car (more than the Earth’s circumference)
1,333 animal lives
Learn more at https://www.greenerbydefault.com/
Sources: http://www.waterfootprint.org/, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-daily-destruction/, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-014-1169-1/fulltext.html, http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/meateaters/pdf/methodology_ewg_meat_eaters_guide_to_health_and_climate_2011.pdf, https://www.amazon.com/Food-Choice-Sustainability-Buying-Eating/dp/1626524351
Plant-Based Defaults and Inclusivity
About 65% of the world cannot digest lactose, particularly individuals of East Asian, West African, Arab, Jewish, Greek, and Italian descent. In these groups, lactose malabsorption is as high as 70%-100%.
Source: https://medlineplus.gov/ genetics/condition/lactose-intolerance/#frequency
Religious Cultural Sensitivity
Many religions have restrictions on what types of animal products can be consumed by its followers, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. These include but are not limited to:
Islam (1.8 billion followers) - restrictions on pork, the meat of carnivores, and animals that died due to illness, injury, stunning, poisoning, or haram slaughtering
Hinduism (1.2 billion) - restrictions on beef and sometimes ghee, milk, eggs, domestic fowl or salted pork
Buddhism (511 million) - restrictions on meat
Sikhism (26 million) - restrictions on beef and sometimes all meat
Judaism (16 million) - restrictions on pig, shellfish, and rabbit
Jainism (5 million) - restrictions on meat, eggs, and root vegetables
BruinMUN 31 aims to provide for all of its attendees and staff, regardless of their ethnic or religious background.
Join us
To multiply the impact of our policy, delegates are encouraged to participate in sustainable eating with the help of our plant-based dining guide. BruinMUN attendees can show their credentials to get 20% of at Hibachi Papi and 10% at California Pizza Kitchen in Westwood. View our dining guide below for more details.