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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: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday March 28 2018, @12:09AM (3 children)
Not just here. Almost everywhere. But Veganism is on the increase and more importantly, awareness and understanding of it is increasing too. Which is good because there are so many misconceptions about it.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by slap on Wednesday March 28 2018, @06:10AM (2 children)
My son did the Vegan thing for a year while living with us. So you could say that I'm far more aware than most since I do all of the grocery shopping.
It's a fucking pain in the ass. I can understand being a vegetarian, but reading all of the goddamn labels on every single fucking item? It's amazing how many things have a tiny percentage of dairy products so you have to opt for the much more expensive true Vegan option...
He now has seen the error in his ways. He absolutely loves my grilled chicken and pork, and bacon!
For "easter" dinner (most of us are atheists) he's going to cook pulled pork.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:52AM
You're right. It is a pain in the ass. That's mostly down to the food labeling, but that's getting better too. More things are actually marked vegan than 5-10 years ago.
To an extent though, trusting any food label is an act of blind faith. The best way to control what you eat is to cook from basic ingredients. It often saves money and makes nicer food too.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 28 2018, @01:10PM
I go thru the same thing for more than a decade with my son's medically diagnosed allergy (as opposed to trendy TV actor self-diagnosis of the same disease, etc).
My experience is you can cheat a little and spend inordinate amounts of money on "priestly blessed" near imitations of the stuff that made the kid sick. However its super expensive and generally tastes awful. Whereas genuine food that is naturally "whatever" usually tastes pretty good.
In my son's case something like a little steak with a big chefs salad tastes a lot better than a cupcake made with GF potato flour that smells like a potato chip when its cooked and the texture is all off.
In my own case I mostly eat paleo type food; Again you can buy really disgusting paleo imitations of ice cream and paleo junk food in general, but the again as per above a steak dinner hold the garlic bread is simpler cheaper and much more delicious.
Likewise I'd anticipate the Vegan thing is a huge PITA if you're trying to buy fake vegan cheese and fake vegan meat, but if you stick to fresh produce and grains for all meals, I imagine its easier and tastes better.