Eating a plant-based diet is healthy for your body, the environment, and the animals. Unfortunately, plant-based options aren’t readily available to everyone, like the children who rely on school cafeteria food for their meals.

School-provided meals should be healthy, but they’re often lacking. For those students who wish to lower their environmental impact or eat more ethically, options are even slimmer. Childhood is a crucial time in a person’s life and it sets the foundation for making healthy, conscious choices. Schools should be catering to the students who want to make a difference and eat for their health and the planet.

While the U.S. and the rest of the world have a long way to go when it comes to offering plant-based school lunches, there are some promising changes being made: like Congress considering funding for more plant-based school lunches and New York City offering vegan-only Fridays at school!

According to New York Daily News, New York City will be implementing vegan-only Fridays in school cafeterias, thanks to a new policy from Mayor Adams. While New York School cafeterias already go meatless on Mondays and Fridays, adding a fully-vegan day would expose students to more options that don’t rely so heavily on dairy and eggs.

Aside from cow’s milk, which is required to be served under federal USDA guidelines, the schools will not serve any animal products to students on Fridays as of this week. New menu options for Fridays include bagels with jam, oatmeal, and fresh fruit. Other vegan options throughout the week include fruit and oatmeal; vegetarian options include pancakes, muffins, croissants with cheese, and yogurt.

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A post shared by Mayor Eric Adams (@nycmayor)

Hopefully, more schools will follow suit and implement meatless Mondays and vegan Fridays!

Sign this petition to demand vegan lunches be offered at schools.

Make your own vegan school lunches at home!

• Chickpea Tuna Salad Sandwich 
• Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil, and Spinach Pinwheels
• 4-Ingredient No-Bake Banana Bread Bars
• High Protein Spinach and Rice Balls
• Veggie Protein Burritos
• Meatball and Garlicky Greens Subs

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Unfortunately, dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer, and has many side effects. 

For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend purchasing one of our many plant-based cookbooks or downloading the Food Monster App which has thousands of delicious recipes making it the largest vegan recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

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