WeWork takes meat off the menu at company events

NEW YORK — Office space sharing company WeWork says it is no longer serving red or white meat at company events.

In an email to employees Thursday, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Miguel McKelvey said the company won’t serve pork, poultry or red meat, and it won’t allow employees to expense meals that include those meats to the company. Fish will stay on the menu.

McKelvey said the change means WeWork will use less water and produce less carbon dioxide as well as saving the lives of animals

The company said employees are welcome to bring whatever food they want to work.

The policy is effective immediately and also applies to the company’s Summer Camp gathering in the United Kingdom in August. McKelvey wrote that WeWork could save 10,000 animals by eliminating meat at the upcoming Summer Camp event. It has 6,000 employees and some 5,000 attended the event in 2017.

The company was unable to estimate how much water it would currently save or how much carbon dioxide would be eliminated from the changes it is policies.

WeWork’s meat policy may be unique, but the company is joining a group of companies that have recently looked for ways to reduce their impact on the environment. Coffee chain Starbucks, airlines including American and Alaska, and the Hilton and Hyatt hotel chains have all recently announced that they will stop using plastic straws so they produce less plastic waste. Some cities have banned the straws as well. (AP) Photo by kennejima