Wildlife-friendly school Food
What children eat at school is important for their health but also for planetary health and food justice. (Read the Wildlife-Friendly Guide to Increasing Plant-Based Options in School Meals.)
With 7 billion school meals served annually in the United States, the impact of school food is substantial. Excessive consumption of meat and dairy has a heavy price tag when it comes to greenhouse gases and pollution. Yet outdated menus serve up environmentally harmful and nutritionally dubious foods like chicken nuggets, hamburgers and hot dogs.
Meat and dairy are the leading agricultural driver of habitat and biodiversity loss and agricultural greenhouse gases. Studies have shown that of the top 15 most common school entrées, virtually all of them were meat-based. And cheese is in nearly 60% of school menu items.
The environmental effects of meat, dairy and seafood also come through water pollution, land use, pesticides and species endangerment. School food is also a source of food waste, especially dairy milk.
This is one reason students across the country are asking for plant-based food and drinks, which have a lower environmental footprint. The demand for more plant-based school meals reflects a diverse and environmentally conscious student population at schools across the nation. (Learn more about how meat production harms wildlife.)
Addressing the environmental impact of school food can make a big difference.
Sustainable nutrition makes for healthier meals and drives change in consumer markets, institutional procurement, and dietary patterns. And with farm-to-school and school gardening programs, what’s served in cafeterias is a community opportunity to improve planetary health. (Read the Wildlife-Friendly Guide to Increasing Plant-Based Options in School Meals.)
THE NEED FOR HEALTHY, FAIR SCHOOL MENUS
Every child has a right to healthy, sustainable, culturally appropriate meals at school. Schools need to provide plant-based options that can meet students’ medical, religious and ethical needs. Unfortunately, very few plant-based entrees are available in our public schools because of the policy and financial barriers schools face. (Read our comment to the USDA on the 2024-2025 National School Foods Study.)
Every year 32 million children in the United States participate in child-nutrition programs; for many, school meals are their primary source of nourishment. Many of these students are Black, Indigenous or from other marginalized communities. Providing better meals is a crucial point of intervention to mitigate racial health disparities, which emerge early in life.
Healthy, plant-forward diets can also boost academic performance and address educational inequities, while reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and protecting against certain forms of cancer and other diseases. Enacting universal free, healthy, and sustainable school meals will give children access to nutritious meals.
It will also support public schools, which currently must expend time and resources trying to overcome many obstacles to reimbursements that help create the conditions of school meals today, where uncreative, environmentally harmful meals are the standard.
Finally, it will bring greater equity to families. According to the Education Data Initiative, more than 30 million students can’t afford school meals in the United States and incur hundreds of dollars or more in debt. We can solve this by providing healthy, sustainable school meals to all students.
We must revitalize our school food system. Dairy milk is usually the only beverage option (besides water) on menus that are also heavily packed with cheese, yet most people of color can’t effectively digest lactose. According to the National Institutes of Health, lactose intolerance is a question of health, racial justice, and equity that necessitates making plant-based school foods more widely and easily available.
Students request plant-based and plant-forward school menus, meals and entrées for health, environmental, cultural, ethnic, personal and religious reasons. For example, some religions restrict all or some animal products. Black, Indigenous, Asian, and other people of color are three times more likely to follow a plant-based diet. Plant-based menus more easily accommodate a range of medical and religious concerns and the needs and preferences of diverse student populations.
BUILDING WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY SCHOOL CULTURE
To begin to build a better school food environment, we need to remove some of the barriers to structural change.
This includes increasing support for kitchen staff, equipment, and training in the preparation of plant-based meals. It also means incorporating educational opportunities into school curricula — like nutrition, gardening, and cooking — and working to increase choice and excitement about plant-based options through default veg menus and taste tests.
READ THE SCHOOL GUIDE
The Center for Biological Diversity has created a solutions-based guide that outlines the opportunities and obstacles schools, students, parents, and administrators face in improving plant-based offerings in school menus. This guide is informed in part by interviews with a diverse range of students, parents, food service and school staff, and school food advocates.
Read the Wildlife-Friendly Guide to Sustainable School Food
take action
The Center for Biological Diversity is working with a broad-based coalition to support the Healthy Future Students and Earth Act, introduced by Rep. Velázquez and endorsed by more than 100 environmental and justice organizations — a first-of-its-kind effort that will provide financial support, culinary training, and other assistance to meet the growing demand for plant-based options. We even joined with legendary singer Billie Eilish, who spoke on behalf of the Healthy Future Students and Earth Act at a Capitol Hill briefing.
Learn more on our coalition website and take action.
- Students can get involved by visiting our coalition website at SchoolFoodAction.org.
- Sign up for our newsletter, Food X, to learn more about how we’re fighting for wildlife-friendly school food.
ABOUT OUR WORK
Read
- Wildlife-Friendly School Food Guide
- School food resources
- Improving Plant-Based School Food Menus Through Federal Policy
- Overview of USDA programs and policies
- The Feasibility of Local School Food Procurement in Advancing Sustainable School Meals – Columbia University Capstone Project.
- USDA Opens the Doors to Climate-Friendly School Meals – Foodtank, Jennifer Molidor
- 5 Ways USDA’s School Programs Fail ‘Start Simple’ – Food Dive, Jennifer Molidor.
- Why Climate-Friendly Menus Matter – Medium, Jennifer Molidor.
- Billie Eilish Supports Healthy, Climate-Friendly School Meals – Food X, Jennifer Molidor.
- Broad Coalition Calls on Congress to Make School Food Free for All – Food and Environment Reporting Network, quoting Jennifer Molidor.
- Comment: USDA 2024-2025 National School Foods Study. – Public Comment, Jennifer Molidor.
- Climate-Friendly School Food Partner Resources – List of guides for food service, marketing materials, recipes, and curriculum materials from our advocacy partners.
Listen
- Connecting Food with Our Environment in Daily Life – Duke World Policy Center, Interview with Center for Biological Diversity’s Jennifer Molidor.
Watch
- Catering to the Climate: Menus for a Healthy Planet – Humane Society of the United States webinar with Center experts Jennifer Molidor and Stephanie Feldstein.
- Tell Congress to Support Healthy, Climate-Friendly School Food – Student action video.