Council mandates vegan catering for City-provided food
Veganism is the new default at the City of Sammamish.
At their Jan. 7 meeting, the Sammamish City Council created a plant-based catering policy for public meetings where the City provides food. After evoking strong debate within the council, the proposal narrowly passed by a 4-3 vote, with Deputy Mayor Amy Lam and council members Kali Clark and Kent Treen dissenting.
Councilmember Sid Gupta, who introduced the idea with a resolution draft, compared the low carbon footprint of plant-based foods to the high greenhouse gas emissions of meat production. He believes that the new policy promotes sustainability and equity. Opposing council members argued that the minimal expected impact makes it not worthwhile.
Per the new policy, the City must either list vegan options at the top of menus or place them at the beginning of buffet lines. While the City can still provide meat, they have to offer twice as many plant-based options.
The council incorporated all the points outlined in Gupta’s proposed resolution into the policy.
According to Gupta’s resolution draft, the policy aims to be “inclusive of all dietary needs.” Councilmember Pam Stuart sees a plant-based menu as more equitable, eliminating the need for special dietary accommodations.
“We’re just saying that we’re going to flip [catering] upside down and say that the default is to start vegetarian, and people can opt into the other,” Stuart said.
City Manager Scott MacColl pointed out potential hurdles in searching for vegan options that are also inclusive of other common dietary restrictions. Of the Food and Drug Administration’s nine major food allergens, five are still allowed in a vegan diet.
“Thinking about impact — the most simple thing is cookies, and whether or not you can find vegan cookies and, for instance, for those of us that have, like, a nut allergy, whether or not vegan cookies are available to everybody,” MacColl told the council.
The policy applies only when the City itself serves food to the public. Independent vendors selling food at events hosted or sponsored by the City do not have to comply with the plant-based standards.
According to the City’s communications manager, Angie Millar, the City spent about $1,300 on catering for public events in 2023. This year, however, the City has “virtually eliminated” catering from their budget, Millar said.
Councilmember Kali Clark said that the policy’s minimal applications make it unnecessary.
“It just seems very restricted for something that may not happen,” Clark said.
Echoing Clark’s concerns, Lam questioned whether the rarely pertinent policy would have enough of an impact on the City’s carbon footprint.
“I would like the resolutions that we make [to] have significant impact, so I’m a little hesitant about supporting this one,” Lam said.
Despite acknowledging the policy’s negligible impact on the environment, council members Gupta and Roisin O’Farrell argued that it sets a symbolic example for residents.
“It is a small step admittedly, but I think it is important, because as we do move to implementation of our Climate Action Plan, I would like for us to take that step before we tell our community, ‘You know, hey, this is something you can do,’” Gupta said.
