Brighton And Hove Greens Push For Greener School Meals

Thursday, 20 May 2021 06:00

The Green Party has written to the education minister to ask for more sustainable, plant-based or vegan foods in school menus.

In a letter to Gavin Williamson, the Deputy Chair of the Children, Young People and Skills Committee, Cllr Elaine Hills, has requested the school meal standards are changed, to encourage children to adopt healthy eating habits while reducing their carbon footprint.

The School Food Standards mandate schools to serve meat and dairy at least three days a week. However Greens say it's vital schools are given greater capacity and flexibility to provide more variety.

The request follows a deputation at the last full council in which residents asked for more plant-based food to be served in schools.

In the letter to the minister, Cllr Hills said:

"To mitigate against both the worst effects of the climate crisis and a future health crisis, we need to move to a food system that maximises the health of our children along with that of our planet."

"Here in Brighton and Hove, the wellbeing of our residents and future generations is of primary importance to us and we have committed to becoming a carbon neutral city by 2030. To help us achieve this, we'd like to be able to reduce the carbon footprint of our food as much as we can. Moreover, an increasing number of parents have told us they are keen for school meals to reflect the diversity of food and eating habits that now take place at home, and that many young people would appreciate a wider range of plant-based options.

"We would like to be able to give the governing bodies, staff and most of all, children in our schools the option of going meat free if they so choose, or to at least be able to increase the number of plant-based options in schools. However, the current National Food Standards on school meals means we are unable to go as far as we'd like to."

Cllr Hills is also in talks with council chiefs about ways in which the council can increase the number of plant-based options on offer at council-run establishments.