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- [Narrator] Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
which experts believe can be traced back
to a wild animal market, there was a lot of uncertainty
about the upcoming school year.
As zoonotic diseases have shown,
there has never been a better time
to cut ties with animal products.
Along with that,
animal agriculture is the biggest driver of climate change.
Here's why these 10 schools are ditching meat
to provide students with healthier
and more sustainable plant-based options.
MUSE School.
The MUSE School is a private vegan school
for grades K to 12, located in Calabasas, California.
It was co-founded in 2006 by Suzy Amis Cameron, author,
wife of Academy Award winning director James Cameron,
and her sister, Rebecca Amis.
It is the first school in the nation
to be 100% solar powered, zero waste,
and with an organic, plant-based lunch program.
The MUSE School centers its curriculum
around passion-based learning,
self efficacy, and sustainability.
It officially adopted a vegan menu in 2015,
acknowledging the connection between animal agriculture
and the climate crisis.
In addition to this, the MUSE School teaches students
how to grow food in order to help students understand
where food comes from
and how it impacts both their health and the planet.
It has currently switched
to digital classes due to COVID-19.
UK schools pledge to ditch meat.
In an effort to reduce carbon emissions,
caterers that provide meals for UK schools have pledged
to cut nine million kilograms of meat from their menus.
Last January, the UK Committee for Climate Change
recommended that the entire British population
cut meat consumption by 20%
in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Acknowledging this, the trade magazine
"Public Sector Catering" launched the initiative
in April 2020, stating that the move will reduce
the amount of meat served by 20%.
David Foad, editor in chief of "Public Sector Catering,"
said, "It represents a bold move
"because it is not being mandated.
"It would have been much easier to sit back and wait
"until they were either prompted
"or forced into action like this by the government."
Industry experts call the move unprecedented.
Public sector caterers reach billions of people every year,
roughly a quarter of the British population.
Andy Jones, Chair of the PSC100 group
of caterers and suppliers said,
"The huge range of people we feed every day means
"we can influence the diet of the nation.
"I, for one, don't want to be known
"as part of the generation that could have acted,
"even in a small way, but did nothing."
Leeds Schools.
Primary schools in Leeds aim
to serve meat free meals twice a week.
The Leeds City Council introduced the initiative
in January 2020 to reduce the city's carbon footprint.
It hopes to halve emissions by 2025.
The new proposed school menus include one non-meat day
and one vegetarian day.
Vegan meals will be available daily upon request.
In addition to this, schools will also serve
more fruit and vegetable snacks.
They will also teach children
how to reduce their environmental impact at home
by showing them how to recycle and reduce food waste.
Students were asked if they would mind ditching meat
for one day a week,
and 95% said they would not object to the menu change.
In October 2019,
more than 60 scientists wrote an open letter
to world governments, calling on schools
and hospitals to serve less meat
for the sake of the planet.
"Eating less meat and dairy in our growing cities
"is a way to address the climate emergency.
"Cities can play a crucial role in helping citizens
"to reduce their consumption of livestock products,
"and to enable the changes necessary
"to meet ambitious climate change targets,"
said professor Pete Smith from the University of Aberdeen,
who spearheaded the letter.
California schools increase vegan options.
California schools also want to serve more vegan food
for the good of student health and the environment.
AB-479, the Healthy Climate-Friendly School Lunch Act,
was introduced in February 2019
by Assembly Member Adrin Nazarian.
Under the new bill,
public schools would receive state funding
to serve plant-based meals to six million students.
The landmark bill would not only ensure
that meals are planet-friendly, but also healthy.
It would also provide nutritious meals
to students who might not have access to them at home.
Assembly Member Nazarian said,
"Our state is a global microcosm
"with many different cultural needs.
"California's school meal policy
"should not only reflect this diversity,
"but also incorporate the extensive research
"on the health benefits of plant-based nutrition."
University of Coimbra.
The University of Coimbra,
the oldest university in Portugal,
banned beef to reduce its environmental impact
in September 2019.
The university, which was established in the year 1290,
previously served around 20 tons of beef
in its 14 cafeterias,
about 12 times the weight of a car, every year.
The initiative is part of its efforts
to become the first carbon-neutral university
in Portugal by 2030.
Beef production emits the highest level
of greenhouse gases across its supply chain
compared to other forms of meat.
Producing just one kilogram
emits 60 kilograms of greenhouses gases,
while the same amount of peas emits one kilogram.
The University of Coimbra's rector, Amilcar Falco,
said in a speech, "We are expecting a climate emergency,
"and we have to put brakes
"on this projected environmental catastrophe."
He also announced a strict policy against food waste,
which includes bins for food scraps
in university residences.
The university is also ditching single-use plastic straws
in favor of paper ones,
and introducing a tree-planting program.
University of Cambridge.
Cambridge University swapped beef and lamb
for vegan options in 2016
as a part of its sustainable food policy.
According to a report released
by Cambridge's catering service in September 2019,
the menu change helped the university
reduce its overall carbon emissions
despite an overall increase
in the amount of food purchased.
Catering serves 14 locations across the campus,
and caters for more than 1,500 events a year.
The university reduced its carbon emissions
by 33% per kilogram of food purchased,
and cut the amount of land used per kilogram of food by 28%.
University chefs received plant-based cooking classes
following the change.
The vegan and vegetarian options are advertised
in a way that encourages students to purchase them
instead of the remaining meat options.
Andrew Blamford, professor of conservation science
at the University of Cambridge, said
that it is hard to imagine any other interventions
that could yield such dramatic benefits
in so short a span of time.
Cambridge University also started selling
biodegradable plastic bottles,
glass bottles, and cans
instead of single-use plastic bottles.
The change prevented more than 30,000 plastic bottles
from being sent to landfills each year.
Swan School.
The Swan School at Oxford serves
only vegetarian lunches to its students.
The Swan is said to be the only first Oxford state school
to have an all-vegetarian canteen.
Students are served meals
like minted pea and feta frittatas,
lentil lasagna, and corn sausage and potato bake.
The meat-free lunch policy
benefits the school in three ways.
It saves money, is better for the environment,
it allows students of all faiths
and different dietary backgrounds to dine together.
Students are not permitted
to bring pack lunches to school
in a bid to encourage children and staff
to eat together and engage during lunch breaks.
All diners are encouraged to help lay the table,
serve food, and pack up after the meal.
Lunch services include daily reflection
and weekly gratitude moments
whereby students explain what they are thankful for.
University of Helsinki.
Helsinki University banned beef
from campus cafeterias in October 2019,
vowing to replace it with more vegan and vegetarian options.
The resource-intensive meat will be removed
from cafeterias that are owned
and operated by the university's student union.
The cafeterias serve around 10,000 lunches a day.
Cafeteria business operations director Leena Pihlajamaki
said, "The idea came from staff
"when we were pondering our next socially responsible move.
"We realized that this would be a way
"to significantly cut our carbon emissions."
According to UniCafe,
removing beef from the menu
will cut the university's food carbon footprint by 11%.
YLVA, the company that handles the day to day operations
of university cafeterias,
aims to make vegan and vegetarian food sales
represent 50% of all food served.
They will do this by placing non-meat lunches
at the front of all self-service counters,
ensuring that they are the first dishes
that students see.
West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
All schools in the council area
of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland offer vegan food options
thanks to one mother's campaign.
Alexis Kasravi had tried
to get her five-year-old daughter's school
to offer plant-based meals for about a year.
When Kasravi first asked Mia's nursery
to provide vegan meals, the nursery refused.
Kasravi was also not permitted
to provide her daughter with homemade food
due to cross-contamination worries.
Kasravi reached out to the Vegan Society,
the oldest vegan society in the world, for assistance.
The organization helped her pen a letter
to the council's education officer,
formally requesting plant-based options.
The outreach was successful,
and all schools and nurseries
in West Dunbartonshire now provide vegan meals.
Said Kasravi, "It's important for public institutions
"like schools to cater for vegan pupils,
"but plant-based food can be enjoyed
"by most people, so it promotes inclusivity,
"sustainability, and good nutrition."
New York City schools.
All New York City public schools,
the largest public school system in the world,
partake in Meatless Mondays in a bid
to improve student health.
The program, announced in March 2019,
follows the successful trial
in 15 Brooklyn schools in spring 2018,
and 1,700 New York City public schools in fall 2018.
The pilot received positive feedback from students,
who were served meatless lunches
such a meat-free tacos and a salad bar.
The Meatless Mondays initiative was announced
by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio,
Schools Chancellor Chard A. Carranza,
and vegan Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams,
who spearheaded the original Brooklyn trial.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said,
"Cutting back on meat a little
"will improve New Yorkers' health
"and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We're expanding Meatless Mondays
"to include all public schools
"to keep our lunch and planet green
"for generations to come."
That's it for today.
Do you know a school with a vegan menu?
Let us know what they're serving in the comments.
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