It was quite a spread. For the first full meeting of Oxfordshire County Council since the decision was taken to supply only “plant-based” food for its gathering representatives, on Tuesday the stops had been pulled out. Ian Middleton, one of the Green Party councillors who had pushed through the policy on the basis that meat farming damaged the environment, was so pleased with the fare on offer at the council meeting, he took a picture and tweeted it.

“Absolute triumph,” he wrote of a buffet replete with kiwi fruit, mangoes and grapes. “Very enthusiastically received.”

Some observers, however, were less than enthused by the grub. Oxfordshire Food and Farming, a lobbying group for local producers, which had organised a protest outside the council chambers when the policy was being first debated back in February, was particularly aggrieved. Here were the councillors, insisting that meat production was harmful to the planet, enjoying food that quite clearly had to have been flown in from afar.

“Apparently, Oxfordshire sausages are bad for the planet, but mangoes from South Africa and grapes brought in by jets from the Canaries are fine,” said a representative of Oxfordshire Food and Farming.

Johnnie Alden, who runs Hollands Farm Beef in Great Milton, added: “The message the decision by the council gives out is that meat-eating is always bad for the environment and that it’s not possible to combine all types of food into a healthy sustainable diet. They’re out of touch with their constituents, they should use their voice to support the rural economy, not to attack it.”

Liz Leffman, head of the local Liberal Democrats and the council leader, however, was having none of it. She saw no hypocrisy in the fare on offer. “Of course we don’t grow fruit in this country at this time of year,” she said. “So if you’re going to eat fruit, it is going to have to come from somewhere else.”

Never mind the air miles, then, enjoy the kiwi fruit.