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posted by janrinok on Tuesday March 27 2018, @06:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-bull dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday March 28 2018, @12:47AM (2 children)

    by edIII (791) on Wednesday March 28 2018, @12:47AM (#659257)

    To be fair, the program sounds like one of the three meals per day that these kids should be eating. Nothing says that some of them might not have a bacon & egg sandwich for breakfast, or some baked chicken casserole later on. I know this is Brazil, but I don't know what the food there is like.

    Let's face it. The majority of the site membership would probably be greatly served by replacing a lunch with meat, with a lunch sourced entirely from vegetables.

    I'm only hearing vegetarian for lunch. I do agree that the program would be better served by introducing meat once per week. Grilled chicken is pretty damn healthy.

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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday March 28 2018, @01:17AM

    by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday March 28 2018, @01:17AM (#659272) Journal

    I love Cuke, it´s heaven in a can!

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    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @02:12AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @02:12AM (#659291)

    Here in South America, not a lot of vegetables are eaten (in comparison with the amount of meat, that is). People on the lower end of the socio economic scale are basically eating beans, grains and meat. Even if you are in the better-off end of society, depending on where you live, it can often be difficult to get a meal with any reasonable amount of vegetables. You may get a bit of tomato and onion "salad". Believe me, those kids would be *stuffed* full of chicken. Chicken is plentiful and cheap in these parts; in contrast, a plate of *real* salad can cost you way, way, way more more than a cheap-ass crumbed chicken and fries with rice and a coke. Another factor is that we have so many young mothers, they often never get much past 9th year at school, and so have the same kind of relationship with food as uneducated westerners, which gets passed down to their kids, etc.
    It's a cultural thing. It's good to see this occurring - especially given that governments down this way are not renowned for being particularly charitable.

    TL;DR The kids will get a vitamin boost compared to their regular diets. Some of those kids may have never had a salad or veggie meal in their lives. It's a nice thing to happen. :)