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Humane Society International announces:
Humane Society International [HSI] in Brazil has teamed up with four cities in the northeastern state of Bahia--Serrinha, Barroca, Teofilandia, and Biritinga--and the local Public Prosecutor Office, to transition all of the meals served at its public school cafeterias to 100 percent plant-based by the end of 2019, reducing meat, dairy, and egg consumption by 25 percent per semester. This marks the first time in history that any school districts have committed to having exclusively plant-based cafeterias. The change will impact over 23 million meals a year [covering 30,000 students].
The launch of the project, called "Escola Sustentável" (Sustainable School), took place on Monday, March 19th, and was followed by four days of plant-based culinary trainings for the cities' school cooks, led by HSI's Chef André Vieland. Chef André taught cooks how to prepare cost-effective, nutritious recipes, using accessible local ingredients. Escola Sustentável's mission is to improve student health, reduce the cities' environmental footprint (especially water consumption), and empower local farmers who will be able to supply the school districts with plant-based foods. Leticia Baird, Brazilian Public Prosecutor for the Environment in the State of Bahia, who led the creation of this program, stated: "Providing our school districts with plant-based meals will help save environmental and public financial resources, allow for a future of healthy adults, and build a fair world for the animals."
Sandra Lopes, food policy manager for HSI in Brazil, stated: "We applaud the cities of Serrinha, Barroca, Teofilandia, and Biritinga for becoming the world's first school districts to commit to going 100 percent plant-based. It's an honor to have worked with city authorities, nutritionists, and school cooks on the adoption and implementation of this initiative, and we're excited to continue working closely with them to ensure the success of this program."
AlterNet adds:
School meals in those cities typically feature animal proteins such as beef, lamb, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, and butter, Brazilian publication Correio reported.[pt-br] Under the new, two-year experimental program, lunches will consist of soy, rice milk, peanut butter (instead of butter), vegetables, root vegetables, grains, and whole-wheat bread.
Definitive implementation of the program will depend on health outcomes of the students after the trial period, according to Correio. Students will undergo periodic tests that count blood, ferritin, vitamin B12, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose levels. Weight, height, and body composition will also be measured.
Families who do not agree with the newly imposed diet can send their students to school with packed lunches from home, [Ms.] Baird [...] said.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 27 2018, @11:41PM
The problem is as already stated that often times the school lunch is the only nutritious meal that a child gets and possibly the only one at all. Students shouldn't be forced to eat vegan at school if their parents can't or won't provide a bag lunch. Especially if there aren't any steps being taken to ensure that the children aren't receiving nutritious meals at home as well.
A small amount of meat in a student's lunch isn't going to make them fat or unhealthy, but it does make it a lot easier to make sure that the student is getting all of the necessary nutritional content.
There's also the problem that I saw when I was a kid. There was this one kid whose parents were extremely strict at home and he'd just absolutely go nuts when they weren't around. Since they weren't letting him make any of his own choices, he had little experience making them. I remember one time he wound up knocked out and lying in the back of a truck for a bit because of his poor judgement.
Similarly, nobody is suggesting that these kids need access to junk food at school, especially for meals paid for by the school, but if you don't allow the students to make decisions about which healthy options they choose, then you run the risk of them growing older without knowing how to make those decisions or any experience doing so.