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A Peruvian court has ordered a major university to provide plant-based meals for its vegan student population.
The Sixth Constitutional Court of Lima, Peru’s capital city, told Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos that it must conduct a census of vegan students and provide appropriate options for them.
Read more: Controversial Plant-Based Labeling Ban Passes With Huge Majority
According to a release by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), the court based its ruling on Peru’s constitutional rights of equality, nondiscrimination, freedom of conscience, and the free development of personality.
Dr Neal Barnard, a medical doctor and the president of PCRM, presented a brief to the court on January 20, 2026. He said, “The court’s ruling recognizes that students at public universities hold diverse religious, cultural, ethical, and philosophical beliefs that play roles in diet and lifestyle.”
The University has reportedly appealed the decision, but the details of the appeal are not yet available to the public. PCRM noted that more than two-thirds of colleges and universities in the US now offer students vegan options, and that well-nourished students perform better.
“Complying with the ruling would help students make healthier food choices while bringing the university in line with standard practice at public institutions all over the world. Everybody would win,” Barnard added.
Read more: Canada’s $2.1 Billion Food Strategy Doesn’t Mention Plant-Based Proteins Once
University of Cambridge cancels plant-based menu
Late last year, the UK’s University of Cambridge canceled its popular plant-based menu at The Whale Café based on “the wrong sales data.”
According to Plant Based Cambridge, the data actually shows that “a majority of visitors” preferred the café’s plant-based menu. Writing on a petition to bring the menu back, one commenter wrote that they ate at Cambridge University’s Whale Café on three different occasions during the month that the plant-based menu was available. They added that it was “so busy” they had to wait to be seated each time, and that the food was “a lovely change.”
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