Plant Milk Subsidies - Trinity Catering's Got This
Trinity to continue to subsidise plant based coffees after successful student-suggested pilot project
During February 2022, Trinity Catering subsidised plant based coffees (that's lattes and cappucinos made with plant drinks rather than cows' milk) in response to a proposal from Trinity undergraduate Heather McClean. Heather came up with the idea during Prof. Clare Kelly's TEP module, "The Psychology of the Climate Crisis" and brought it to Trintiy Catering via the Healthy Trinity: Healthy Eating group.
Heather says:
'Most students love coffee - but all students have limited funds. So asking students to 
pay an extra 50 cent on a plant based alternative to their morning coffee becomes very expensive on a Susi grant. But one third of human based green house gas emissions are from food production, and what we eat or drink drastically effects how much emissions are released into our atmosphere. If you remember two things from this article we would like them to be two numbers - the first 3.14 and the second 0.9. 3.14kg is how much GHG is released from one litre of dairy milk. 0.9kg is how much GHG is released per litre (on average) of plant milk. Despite plant based milk costing more than dairy in the shops Trinity students no longer have to pay extra. Trinity are now paying the excess for every single student who decides they want to purchase the environmentally friendlier plant based option, it no longer costs more than the dairy alternative. Thank you Trinity for listening and making this huge change, you are not only reducing our college carbon footprint but you are teaching a generation of students healthier lifestyle choices for the planet, and that is a message they will take with them the rest of their lives.'