ProVeg UK carried out a survey with YouGov to find out what parents think about plant-based school food options and their attitudes towards food and education.
The results showed that nearly half of all UK parents support increasing the number of plant-based meals served in schools (46.7%). When asked whether there should be more learning in school about healthy food choices, 85% of UK parents were in support.
The research also found 37% of respondents agree that schools serving more plant-based meals would make the meals healthier compared to what is served now. Nearly 50% of parents in the region of London agree that schools serving more plant-based meals would make the meals more healthy.
ProVeg UK’s flagship programme School Plates is celebrating a milestone of more than ten million meals switched to plant-based or meat-free at 12,000 schools since the initiative was launched in 2018.
Sophia Millar, co-director at ProVeg UK, said: “It’s great to see support for plant-based options on school menus is strong with parents. ProVeg has already swapped ten million meals to date – a fantastic milestone – and we’ll continue to keep championing plant-rich recipes, and training school caterers to cook with planet-friendly and nutritious ingredients.”
In line with the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations ProVeg UK aims to support a transition away from reliance on animal products, reducing the impact of our current food system.