Vegan Meals In UK Schools - New Petition Needs Your Signature

The Vegan Society is calling on all vegans to add their names to a petition requiring nutritionally balanced vegan meal options on every school menu in the UK. 

The petition was started by Aaron Browning from Crewe, who believes schools should be required to provide a nutritious, hot vegan meal every day. Aaron's pledge is supported by The Vegan Society.

Currently, schools and universities are not obliged by law to provide nutritionally balanced, hot vegan meals daily to their students. 

Although the Equality Act places a duty on education centres not to discriminate against vegan children and students, the government currently only asks that schools make 'reasonable choices' when deciding whether to cater for vegans. And the School Food Regulations from 2014 introduced requirements for schools to provide portions of certain foods but do not specifically require schools to offer a vegan option. 

The petition currently has 13,239 signatures, yet the government will not consider debating the topic in Parliament unless it surpasses 100,000 signatures. 

The Vegan Society believes that in 2022 vegan options should be compulsory, not optional. The charity is helping Aaron to get support from vegan brands, manufacturers, businesses, politicians, charities, influencers and celebrities. 

Vegan Food For Children, a 2022 report by The Vegan Society, found a huge number of parents and guardians would welcome more vegan food options in school canteens, while a 2021 survey by BBC Good Food found 8% of children are following a vegan diet and 15% said they would like to.

Explaining the importance of the petition Laura Chepner, Education Chair at The Vegan Society, said: "For many years now, I have supported vegan learners and their parents and guardians in education to request plant-based dishes where there have been none. Some vegans were catered for but many others weren't and still aren't. Considering the public sector duty that all educators have towards their learners, it is shocking that in this day and age vegan children are still being denied plant-based options."

"The government needs to do more than just put the onus on the education sector to make 'reasonable choices'. Education institutions need to better understand the needs of vegans and their canteen staff should be supported in making the transition to having plant-based options every day. Apparently 'every child matters' in an inclusive environment, but if the needs of vegan children are not being met then institutions cannot call themselves fully inclusive. So many petitions like this have come and gone over the years, we cannot let this one go – this is our chance to make a huge difference to the lives of vegan and vegan-curious children up and down the country."

After 10,000 signatures, petitions get a response from the government. In this case, the government responded with a statement, declaring that it expects Headteachers and governors "to act reasonably and to work with parents to provide choices that meet dietary and cultural needs, including veganism," adding that while it "recognises the importance of plant-based foods from a cultural and environmental point of view….meat must be served on three or more days each week and beyond this, schools may provide a meal with a vegan protein every day if they choose to."

To add your name to the petition, just click here: Require schools provide a vegan meal option every day - Petitions (Parliament.uk). 

The petition runs for six months and will end on 17 August 2022. 

Once reaching 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in Parliament. 

Fingers crossed!