Serving 1 Million Plant-based Meals A Year -The Greenest School Menu In The UK Revealed

Waltham Forest was revealed as the greenest school menu in the UK having transformed its menu to serve 1 million plant-based meals across 50 of its primary schools in a year with weekly ‘Save the Planet’ days and plant-based options served every day – ranging from creamy coconut korma to Jamaican patties and planet friendly pizza. The children helped create vegan recipes for meals in taster sessions with Waltham Forest Catering.

The Green School Menu League was launched earlier this year by plant-based meat company Meatless Farm in collaboration with the UK’s youngest vegan chef, Omari McQueen, and non-profit ProVeg. The UK’s School Plates programme aimed to find the greenest school menu in the country to inspire, educate and encourage children to eat more sustainable food with a mission to make 15 million school meals meatless this year.

Local authority school menus and entrants were evaluated on ProVeg UK’s gold standard School Plates programme criteria to award schools taking steps to more sustainable eating and given McQueen’s seal of approval.

The Greenest School Menus in the UK:

Children from Jenny Hammond Primary School, one of the 50 Waltham Forest schools serving Waltham Forest Catering’s winning green menu, will today receive a live cooking masterclass from McQueen, star of the CBBC ‘What’s Cooking Omari?’, learning more about the benefits of plant-based foods and trying out McQueen’s recipes. McQueen will award £5,000 investment towards the school’s sustainable eating programme, including Meatless Farm products. ProVeg UK will also provide a plant-based workshop for Waltham Forest Catering later this year to help drive more sustainable eating to make a difference to the planet.

All runners up will receive a case of Meatless Farm plant-based burgers, sausages, meatballs and mince to recognise their dedication to more sustainable meals.

With almost half (42%) of British children worried about the future and the environment and three quarters (75%) wanting to make a positive difference to the planet2, Omari McQueen, 13-years-old and the UK’s youngest vegan chef, said:

“Children in Waltham Forest have taste tested the plant-based dishes served on their menus and are inspiring more delicious sustainable school meals. These menus are what children want to eat, and the adults! I think Save the Planet days are a great idea to have every week and it makes me happy to see that they have plant-based options on the menu every day to help make a difference to the world around us. Every school menu should be like this one.”

Christine Cornall, Waltham Forest Catering operations manager, said:“We are so pleased to be top of the Green School Menu League. The whole catering team has worked so hard to ensure that the meals we provide to the children are more sustainable but equally nutritious. It’s been great to see how much fun the children have had with Save the Planet day. It’s a fantastic achievement for the 50 schools we serve within the borough.”

The Green School Menu League initiative is part of Meatless Farm’s ‘For Kids by Kids’ campaign aimed at making more menus meatless in schools in partnership with McQueen, and the company’s aim to educate five million children globally about sustainable eating by 2023.

Michael Hunter, Meatless Farm UK and Ireland managing director, said:“Congratulations to Waltham Forest Catering, this is great work and collectively they’re making a big difference through small changes to their menu. The work of all the entrants is encouraging, for the environment and for the education young people are receiving about the food system. It shows that making that meat swap doesn’t need to be a compromise.”

Here's an example Waltham Forest School menu of plant-based options served daily:

Monday: Planet Pizza, Creamy Korma, Tomato & Vegetable Pasta Bake with choice of minted garden peas and green beans

Tuesday - Save the Planet Day: Pea Risotto with choice of organic carrots and broccoli, Jacket Potato with choice of fillings

Wednesday: Tomato & Basil Pasta with choice of rosemary roast potatoes, cabbage and cauliflower

Thursday: Pea Tagine, Jamaican Patties with choice of fresh salad and mixed vegetables

Friday: Forest Fajita with choice of baked beans and homemade bread

Sounds delicious! :)