The campaign, spearheaded by famous singer and vegetarian activist Paul McCartney and led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has sought to drop the requirement that meat is offered three times a week on English school menus.
Meatless Farm’s support for the campaign followed research by environmental scientist Dr Joseph Poore of Oxford University, which claimed if the UK’s 8.2m school children swapped just one red-meat dish for a plant-based option each week, it would result in a reduction of 2.75m tonnes of greenhouse gases – the equivalent to taking 900,000 cars off the road.
‘Healthier, more-sustainable eating’
Founder Morten Toft Bech said: “Families across the country are now turning to our plant-based burgers, sausages and mince to reduce the meat in their meals, so it is time for schools to embrace healthier, more-sustainable eating.
“Plant-based food uses a tenth of the nutrients and water to produce the same calorific content as meat, so if we, as a society, are going to ‘build back better’ post Covid-19, then it’s time for schools to join the meat-free revolution.”
Meat portions
The campaign called for changes to what it described as outdated School Food Standards for England to benefit children’s health, the environment and animals. In England, schools are required to serve a portion of dairy every day, a portion of meat at least three times a week and a portion of fish once every three weeks.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Meatless Farm revealed it will launch in supermarket chain Tesco, following the plant-based boom during the lockdown.
This means the brand is now stocked in all four of the major UK supermarket chains: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda. From 17 June, its plant-based 400g mince, 227g two-pack fresh burger patties and 300g six-pack sausages will be available in 117 of Tesco’s largest stores.
