Editor’s Note: IVU Online News reader Mary Vincent - http://www.gratitudegourmet.com/contact.html - sent news of the Green Software Unconference she organised last August in Silicon Valley (USA). Veg food was served exclusively. Below, Mary explains how she did that.

I have been a vegetarian and vegan for 15 years since hearing a pig squeal while being killed. In 2008, I founded Gratitude Gourmet - http://www.gratitudegourmet.com/blog.html - which features veg food and policy news.

This year, I organised the Green Software event to bring software and business professionals together to work on software applications to reduce climate emissions. In addition to ensuring I had fabulous attendees at the event, I wanted to walk the talk by bringing in other concepts to help reduce emissions. Thus, I wanted only veg food at this event. I advertised to the attendees in advance there would be a sustainable lunch served. I also ensured that a tree was planted for every attendee to help offset their transportation costs and that there would be no plastic bottles.

During the lunch, I took the microphone and told the attendees we were having a veg lunch to help reduce carbon emissions since meat causes more emissions than transportation according to the United Nations Climate Change Report: http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html

No one complained either during the conference or during the post-survey. The lunch was delicious, which I believe helped. During the lunch, I heard a conference attendee ask, "Do you have vegetarian?” The answer from the person serving them was, “It's all vegetarian!"

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