As I sat eating my oatmeal this morning(with blueberries, of course), watching Good Morning America!, I had this overwhelming feeling that we are on the verge of a revolution, or should I say evolution and revelation?
Perhaps this Vegan thing can really catch on this year.
As The Practicing Vegan plans to launch our first show, I am so encouraged to see how positive all of the reactions are to the idea of TRYING the Vegan Diet.
I was watching Doug Schmidt, a elementary school teacher in Rochester, New York who is on a mission to help others understand the health advantages of a plant based diet.
With Doug helping in elementary schools and The Practicing Vegan working on the college campuses, all we need is some high school teachers to jump on board. Better yet, lets get high school students to make it happen, this way, when they get to college, our work will be easier. If you are out there, please contact us and share your stories.
Since our college students are our leaders of tomorrow, it only makes sense to have them lead the way to TRYING a cruelty free diet. In the very near future, they will be running companies and hopeful insisting on Vegan alternatives in both the workplace and public. If we can peak their interest in high school, all the better.
So, we decided to do some research to see what is happening out there and what young people can do to get things going in the form of more VEGAN choices in their schools (Elementary through College).
Elementary through High School:
The most prominent USDA school lunch program is the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
The NSLP is a federally assisted meal program for public schools, non-profit private schools, and residential child care institutions. It provides low-cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children each school day. The program is administered at the federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service agency of the USDA. At the state level, the NSLP is usually administered by state education agencies, which operate the program through agreements with school food authorities.
There is no law or USDA regulation that requires schools to offer a vegetarian or vegan meal every day. But schools are starting to wake up and make some changes.
New York City! All 1,200 schools in the New York City public school district will now offer a vegan hummus option every day , thanks to The Coalition for Healthy School Food (CHSF), a non-profit that helps introduce plant-based foods into schools. Vegan options for students that are available on the school’s vegetarian menu will range from Mexicali Chili, Lentil Stew, Lentil Sloppy Joes, Braised Black Beans with Plantains, and Zesty BBQ Crunchy Tofu. These yummy meals will be on rotation for the vegetarian menus.
Los Angeles!! Starting in the 2017-18 school year, students will have a new option at lunchtime: a meal without meat or dairy. One vegan meal choice will be on the menu every school day in a pilot program at seven Los Angeles Unified School District schools. During the pilot, staff from the district’s Food Services Division will survey students for feedback, to guide the expansion of vegan menus to other schools. Lets keep an eye on this.
Now I know you are saying, “Well, that’s New York and Los Angeles, what about middle America?”
Here’s what we found:
Since 2009, Meatless Mondays, a public health campaign associated with the John
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, expanded their program into the school sphere, with Baltimore City Public Schools
becoming the first public school system to offer an all-vegetarian menu to start off each week.
Since then, another 53 districts have also joined the movement, including schools in San Diego, Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit, and others are working with the program to implement more meat-free proteins into menus that still meet the requirements of the National School Lunch program.
Meatless Mondays is not advocating necessarily for students to go totally vegetarian or vegan — rather, the program’s goal is for people to diversify their diets and incorporate more plant-based/cruelty free meals.
Although the Trump Administration has now relaxed the USDA standards as of May 2017, there are still things you can do to make changes in your schools offerings.
We took a look at the USDA site and found this article and this quote from Brandon Lipps, Acting Deputy Undersecretary, USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services:
“As we work to improve school nutrition, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) relies on the work of school food professionals across the country — and with good reason. These dedicated – and unsung — professionals are uniquely positioned: They know the children in their care and understand the needs of their school and community, which allows them to explore creative ways to encourage kids to make healthy food choices. This may include everything from student taste tests and food sampling to chef partnerships, salad bars, breakfast in the classroom, or simply offering more choices that students want (ethnic and regional foods, salad bars, or vegetarian options).”
What does this mean for us?
This means that we need to get involved on the local level to make changes.
What can we do:
Parents:
You can make an appointment with the school food service director and discuss your child’s desire for more vegetarian and vegan options.
The other option is to get involved in the PTA or another school committee that discusses school lunch options. Sometimes, it is easier and more effective to work with other parents to encourage the school to expand their offerings.
There may also be local community organizations that would be willing to help you (i.e. the New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods).
Middle and High School Students:
Check out Veg Youth for a list of things you can do to make changes at your school.
Get involved with Lila Copeland and her Earth Peace Foundation. Lila is a high school student trying to change the world, be a part of it!
College Students:
Check out our recent blog on bringing more Vegan choices to college campuses: Practicing Vegan College Style
PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has a scorecard for each college in the US. Check out your school’s grade here: https://www.peta2.com/feature/vegan-college-ranking/
Insist(in a professional way) that your cafeteria serve, at the very least, one hot vegan option at each meal. You pay for your education and you get to make these decisions. Contact us if you are having trouble getting things done.
So here is a start. We are on our way. The revolution is an evolution that will create the revelation!!
We are not asking for all schools to become totally VEGAN, just to give those who want to TRY, the choices they deserve.
Just one day…one meal…at a time.
Please consider sharing your schools journey on our website: The Practicing Vegan, there is a YOUR IDEAS link where you can upload text, images, audio or video. We would love to here from you. If you are having trouble getting things done, let us know and we will help.
Thanks for reading. Please share with ALL and follow our website and show at bit.ly/practicingvegan
We thank you…the animals thank you…your body will thank you …and the world thanks you!
Keep in touch.
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