School lunches in
the United States has been a heavy subject for years. The criticism
is typically that they lack healthy items for children to eat.
Moreover these school lunch items may be contributing to childhood
obesity and even diabetes. American dairy farmers have been rallying
hard insisting that dairy and beef products are healthy nutrient
dense foods. Though one must wonder if they are really protecting
their financial interests rather than the health of Americas youth.
Teenage health
activist Lila Copeland has advocated heavily for Vegan food items in
the California school system. She achieved success after making a
moving case before the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
This has added tremendous momentum to introducing more plant based
items to the school lunch menus in the L.A. school district. The
Oakland Unified School District recently changed its lunch menu to
reduce meat and cheese and add more fresh produce and whole grains.
Meanwhile, a ban on processed meats in two California school
districts has been proposed due to the connection between eating
processed meat and an increased risk for several types of disease.
As reported by KPCC,
an unspecified number of schools within the district may pilot a
vegan meal program come August. According to LAUSD Board President
Steve Zimmer, “we have had a demand and when we get a demand like
this from our community, we institute a pilot to find out is this
something that we really could implement district-wide.” Zimmer was
also sure to note that the new program would not make lunches more
expensive for students. Hopefully, the change won’t stop here. In
addition to becoming a champion for healthy, plant-based meal options
within her own school district, Copeland is also the founder of the
Healthy Freedom Campaign, which seeks to see vegan meal options
implemented on a federal level by 2020.
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