The Finnish International School of Tampere’s canteen is now boosting vegetarian meals and that’s great!

This school located in Amuri "has been chosen for a pilot where vegetarian food is offered as a second lunch option to all students every day. Students can choose which food to eat each day, or they can choose both" said the principal Ulla Hiltunen.

It is now well know that an excessive consomption of meat isn’t that good for our health and, with the massive industrialisation of farming, it’s also contributing a lot to the destruction of our environment.

To quote one reliable article among hundreds: "Deforestation to make way for livestock, along with methane emissions from cows and fertilizer use, creates as much greenhouse gas emissions as all the world’s cars, trucks and airplanes." (The Gardian, Dec. 2018)

Quoting Ulla again: "The vegetarian lunch option is equally nutritious when it is made using a variety of protein sources. All our vegetarian recipes have been checked by a nutritionist and they meet nutritional standards. The amount of protein in the vegetarian lunch is sufficient even though it might not always be plain to see (for example pureed lentils in soup). The goal is to familiarise children with new flavours and ingredients, bring more options and variety to school food, and encourage the students to try a plant based diet, which is both healthy and environmentally sustainable."

In France, since 5 years now many canteen are transitioning toward more sustainability with vegetarian meals. A law voted last July states that by 2022, all canteens should offer 50% meals that are environment friendly, and 20% of them must be prepared with organic food, if possible local. Today, 8 towns in France are serving 100% organic meals to students and a big city like Lyon where more than 2 millions people live, 40% of the food is organic and local already (mainstream article in French, sept 2019).