Farm Sanctuary is a member of the Healthy Future Students and Earth Coalition, which prompted this crucial policy change. Our coalition submitted comments to USDA emphasizing the importance of expanding plant-based options.
In the federal register notice, USDA acknowledges the comments it received from the coalition and its allies and uses the coalition’s arguments to substantiate parts of the final rule.
The USDA reports that more than 30 million children are served meals in U.S. schools daily and that these breakfasts and lunches “represent the main source of nutrition for more than half of these students.” It is vital that school meals are nutritious and offer equitable access to healthy foods.
Below are several changes we advocated for that were incorporated into the updated child nutrition standards:
- Greater flexibility for school districts to serve beans, peas, and lentils in entrees, diversifying center-of-the-plate protein sources
- Allowing nuts or seeds to satisfy the meats/meat alternates meal component
- Allowing bean dips like hummus to be served as a Smart Snack
- More flexibility to offer traditional Indigenous foods
- Removing barriers to local food purchasing
- Stricter limits on sodium and added sugar
Our fellow coalition member, Friends of the Earth, writes in its press release that “dozens of other organizations and thousands of students, parents, school foodservice professionals, and other stakeholders – advocated for changes to the child nutrition meal patterns that would better facilitate healthy, plant-forward menus and increased availability of plant-based, culturally appropriate meal options.” Plant-based foods, the organization notes, are “critical to aligning school meal programs’ intent to serve all children and offer a variety of healthy, fiber-rich options.”
The USDA says schools must make the menu changes by the 2025-26 school year, pointing out that, “Strengthening school meals is one of the best investments we can make in our children’s futures.”
This stronger commitment to supporting plant-based foods protects the health of children and the planet, too—something we must do for future generations. Farm Sanctuary is encouraged by these updated child nutrition standards from the USDA, and we are thankful to be active members of the Healthy Future Students and Earth Coalition.
Thank you to Farm Sanctuary’s supporters for making our work possible and empowering us to achieve progress like this significant coalition victory that benefits animals, people, and the planet.
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