Vegetable-Based School Menus Can Cut Environmental Impact

A shift toward plant-based diets can improve health and cut environmental impacts by nearly half, according to research. As evidence grows, school meal programs are beginning to reflect this trend with healthier, lower-impact menus centered on cereals and plant-based proteins.

A study conducted by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and other institutions reports that reducing animal protein and increasing legumes while diversifying cereals in school menus can decrease environmental impacts by up to 50%.

Researchers analyzed school food guidelines published by the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT) since 2005 and updated in 2012, 2017 and 2020. These guidelines serve as a reference for educational centers in designing healthy menus. The team compared environmental impacts across 16 indicators, including acidification, water scarcity, human toxicity, the use of mineral and metal resources, and the use of fossil resources, along with an aggregated indicator: the ecological footprint.

Using the 2005 guidelines as a baseline, the updates from 2012, 2017 and 2020 were associated with environmental footprint reductions of 9%, 22%, and 40%, respectively. In addition, all individual indicators showed significantly lower environmental impacts in 2020 than in 2005, with reductions ranging from 5% to 52%.

According to the study, animal-based foods such as meat and fish contribute the most to environmental impacts. The authors conclude that increasing plant-based proteins while reducing animal proteins, combined with a more diverse intake of cereals, reduces dietary environmental impacts by approximately 50%.

The researchers also address the misconception that plant-based menus are monotonous or nutritionally inadequate. “It will be necessary to work together with families, school staff and kitchen teams to overcome these barriers,” said Anna Bach, one of the investigators leading the study. Although the study focused on Catalan guidelines, the authors note that the results may be applicable to other regions.

Multiple studies have shown that diets centered primarily on plant-based proteins are beneficial for both human health and the environment. In this context, the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) was proposed in 2019 by the EAT-Lancet Commission, a group of leading global researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability and public policy. This diet is not strictly vegetarian; rather, it aims to balance health and environmental sustainability through a predominantly plant-based eating pattern.

According to the Commission, after assessing the diet’s effectiveness, results showed that individuals in the United States who adhered most closely to the PHD had a 23% lower risk of all-cause mortality. In the United Kingdom, the reduction was 16%, along with fewer deaths from cancer and respiratory diseases.

A meta-analysis pointed in the same direction: overall, the PHD was associated with a 21% lower risk of mortality from any cause, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and colon and lung cancer. Researchers also estimated the greenhouse gas emissions associated with participants’ diets and found a consistent pattern: the farther individuals deviated from the PHD, the larger their dietary climate footprint, with red meat and dairy being the greatest contributors.

What Do School Menus Look Like in Mexico?

On March 29 of this year, new guidelines promoting healthy eating among students in Mexico’s public schools came into effect. The new regulation bans the sale of junk food on school grounds and encourages the consumption of nutritious, locally sourced foods.

The recipe booklets provided by the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) suggest preparing foods such as corn on the cob or esquites with lime, natural popcorn, raisins, alegrías with pumpkin seeds, natural yogurt without warning labels, peanuts in the shell, spicy roasted fava beans, tlacoyos with nopales, requesón and salad, as well as bean sandwiches, chicken sandwiches and quesadillas.

The SEP program also covers food schemes for low-income children, including the cold and hot breakfasts provided by the National System for Integral Family Development (DIF). The food basket supplied to schools under this program includes items such as skim milk, rice, whole-wheat pasta, corn flour, oats, beans, lentils, white beans, fava beans, natural peanuts, mixed-legume salads, peas with carrots, mushrooms, tuna, sardines and vegetable oil.

While school menus could be improved by incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables, they are generally considered healthy and boast a low carbon footprint, offering a variety of cereals and legumes as sources of plant-based protein. Additionally, the regular consumption of corn tortillas and other corn-based foods such as tlacoyos provides important vitamins and minerals, including B-complex vitamins, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and dietary fiber, thanks to the nixtamalization process, which enhances nutrient absorption and improves protein quality.