2 Million School Children in Illinois Will Now Have Access to Plant-Based Meals
A new bill will make it a legal requirement for state schools to offer plant-based lunch options, as part of efforts to make healthy, nutritious, and affordable food more accessible.
Plant-based school meals will be served at all public schools across the state of Illinois, thanks to a new law that will ensure students have access to healthy and affordable meals.
The new bill, HB4089, was sponsored by Chicago state representative Cyril Nichols and Peoria senator, Dave Koehler last year. It was recently signed into law by the Governor of Illinois JB Pritzer and will take effect on 23 August, 2023.
“Well-rounded, nutritious parts of all kinds are vital to students’ ability to learn and succeed,” said Nichols in a statement. “Offering more healthy lunch options in our schools helps our students thrive.”
The initiative will require schools to cater for students who request vegan or religious dietary restrictions, such as kosher and halal. All of the new meals must meet federal nutrition guidelines.
“Whether a student’s dietary needs are rooted in religious, health-related or other, personal reasons, offering a plant-based meal option would satisfy a variety of requirements,” Koehler commented. “Providing a secondary healthy lunch option in our schools is a win all-around.”
Credit: HSUS
A Plant-Powered Future
An increasing number of public schools in the United States are choosing to promote more sustainable and healthy meal choices. Earlier this year, New York announced that all 1,700 of its public schools are taking part in “Vegan Fridays”, meaning that around 1.1 million school children are eating plant-based food at school at least once a week. The initiative was part of a new policy from Mayor Eric Adams to help tackle the country’s healthcare crisis.
Speaking with Fox 5’s Good Day New York, Adams said at the time: “I love healthy food, and I love life, and our children should not continually be fed food that’s causing their healthcare crises: childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, asthma.
And in 2021, Impossible Foods’ piloted plant-based meat in select school districts in California, Washington, and Oklahoma, after earning a Child Nutrition label from the USDA.
“Schools not only play a role in shaping children’s dietary patterns, they also play an important role in providing early education about climate change and its root causes,” said Impossible Foods’ founder Pat Brown.
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