Green Schools Start With Greener Lunches: NYC Public Schools Are Plant-Based Leaders

New York City public schools led the way on Meatless Monday--now it's time for other districts to follow.

One person opting for a plant-based meal over a serving of meat one day per week for a year has the potential to save the equivalent carbon emissions of driving a car 348 miles.

In 2019, the largest public school district in the US made a radical change to its cafeteria menu: New York City Public Schools announced that they would adopt Meatless Mondays, serving students vegetarian breakfasts and lunch one day each week.

The new plant-based offerings are a far cry from the mystery meats long associated with school lunches in your average high-school sitcom. Instead, the menus feature items like white bean and pasta primavera, black bean and plantain power bowls with pico de gallo, seasonal fresh fruits, and Italian salads with marinated cucumbers--more closely resembling a hip, fast-casual meal from the likes of SweetGreen than a scoop of Sloppy Joe. Meatless Mondays were such a resounding success that in 2022, Mayor Eric Adams expanded the program to include plant-based Fridays.

But the program's success is not just about what NYC public school students are eating--it's why they're eating it. According to The Monday Campaigns, the non-profit advocacy group behind most modern Meatless Monday initiatives, one person opting for a plant-based meal over a serving of meat one day per week for a year has the potential to save the equivalent carbon emissions of driving a car 348 miles. Multiply that impact by 1.1 million students who attend NYC public schools each year, and that's a serious cut in greenhouse gas emissions--a significant step in the right direction at a time when scientists and policymakers are urging ambitious action to combat climate change.

New York City's public schools' efforts to save emissions are part of a broader trend in the climate movement. In the past two years, our public schools have become central to discussions about how we can pave the way to a renewable future. Climate groups are rallying around a Green New Deal for Public Schools--an initiative to fund sustainability projects in districts throughout the country and create more "carbon-zero" schools. The city of Boston adopted a Green New Deal for their public schools in 2022, announcing a plan for significant construction, renovation, and upgrades of facilities across the city to cut carbon emissions.

Although not as flashy as huge building projects, smaller-scale initiatives in schools like Meatless Mondays plant the seeds of sustainability for years to come. In fact, plant-based advocates refer to meat reduction efforts as a sort of "Green New Meal"--an opportunity to teach students about the impacts of our current factory farm-dominated food system on our health, animals, and the environment, and empower them to reimagine a food system that works for us all. This also comes as food service providers for school cafeterias, hospitals, and stadiums, like Compass Group and Aramark, are being held accountable to enforce improved treatment of the animals in their supply chains.

The School Nutrition Association estimates that 29.6 million students receive school lunches each day in the US. Beyond the direct environmental benefits that would come with serving more plant-based meals, the students who receive them would not only benefit from the nutrition but a newfound awareness of how our consumption habits impact the world around us, as well as the confidence to make informed choices about how they participate in our food system for years to come. After all, a just transition isn't just about renewable energy--it's about shifting towards a society built on compassion, care, and stewardship towards our planet.

This transition isn't something we have to wait for. The success of New York's Meatless Monday initiative, as well as similar programs in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Minnesota, shows that students, families, school administrators, teachers, and government leaders are hungry for change and willing to welcome plant-based food into their lives as a climate solution.

School districts across the country--including your home district--have the potential to be part of this movement, all with just a few changes to the lunch menu. School Lunch Toolkit for Change includes resources from several leading environmental and public health organizations that will help parents and community members lobby local school leadership to adopt plant-based school lunch initiatives of their own.