Plant powered school meals meet the needs of people and the planet.
The Plant Powered School Meals Coalition expands nutritious and delicious plant-based foods and beverages in U.S. K-12 schools.
What We Do
Build a movement:
We unite local, state, and national organizations to one another and to the individuals – students, families, and school food professionals – most impacted by school meals.
Change policies:
We uplift stories, share research and data, and advocate for policies that meet the need for expanded plant-based food and non-dairy milk options in schools.
Cultivate leaders:
We cultivate student leaders and support school food professionals in their efforts to expand plant-based food and beverages in their schools by providing education, peer networking, and mentorship.
Support the Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act (H.R.5867)
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![Founder of Youth Climate Save, Genesis Butler, with curly black hair, wearing a pink, orange, and yellow tie-dye t-shirt and a silver necklace with a small pendant, smiling softly against a green background with food illustrations.]()
Genesis Butler
Founder of Youth Climate Save
There is a huge rise in youth wanting to eat more plant-based options either for the animals, their health, the planet, or for all of these reasons. Many are unable to do so though because they do not have access to plant-based meals. Since youth spend much of their time at school, it only makes sense for schools to provide plant-based meals. I urge everyone to support the Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act because it will benefit us all. -
![A woman with long dark hair wearing a tan wide-brimmed hat, earrings, a necklace, and a pink top, smiling against a green background with line drawings of food items. Executive Director of Chilis on Wheels.]()
Eloísa Trinidad
Founder of Vegan Activist Alliance and Executive Director of Chilis on Wheels
We must continue to right the historical wrongs of colonization which have led to great disparities in health, food security, and environmental justice, most of which is felt by Black, Indigenous, and students of the Global Majority. Any student going hungry throughout their school day because the food offered is either not culturally appropriate or doesn't meet their other needs is unacceptable. We must include students who have dietary restrictions whether due to a food allergy, philosophical, or cultural reason. The Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act starts to reimagine what empowering our students for a better future looks like. -
![Chloe Waterman, Program Manager of Friends of the Earth's Climate Friendly School Meals Program, smiling woman with blue eyes and brown hair against a green background with line drawings of various foods like salads, bowls, and dishes.]()
Chloe Waterman
Senior Program Manager at Friends of the Earth U.S.
The Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act presents a quadruple win for student choice, racial equity, student health, and the environment. We are grateful to Representatives Velázquez and Adams for introducing legislation to enable school districts to provide plant-based options to benefit our children and the planet. -
![A smiling woman in a chef's uniform with the 'Chefs Ann Foundation' logo on it, standing in front of a green background with illustrations of various food items.]()
Chef Ann Cooper
Founder of The Chef Ann Foundation and former Food Service Director for Boulder Valley Unified School District
Schools often face cost, technical , education, and marketing barriers to serving plant-based meal options since federal subsidies often make animal-based foods cheaper. The Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act will start to level the playing field so that school districts can meet the growing need for nutritious and delicious plant-based menu items. -
![Balanced's founder, with long brown hair, smiling, wearing an orange top and a pendant necklace, with a background featuring green line art of various food items like salads, bowls, and ingredients.]()
Audrey Laweson-Sanchez
Executive Director of Balanced and former educator
Healthy, balanced, and culturally appropriate meals are no longer nice-to-haves on school menus, but are in fact critical to both the short-and long-term wellbeing of our children, families, and communities. As a mother and public health advocate, I am thrilled to see this legislation introduced and hope this is just the first of many policies of its kind. -
![Close-up of a smiling African American school nutrition director wearing glasses, jewelry, and a pin on her blazer, with a green background featuring food illustrations.]()
Betty Wiggins, CPM
Officer at Houston Independent School District Office of Nutrition Services
Only through appropriate education will children learn to have more than a consumer relationship with the Earth and all of its bountifulness. With legislation like the Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act, we can increase our healthy, climate-friendly nutrition education efforts across the board. -
![A middle-aged man with gray hair, glasses, and a blue checkered shirt standing in front of a green background decorated with line drawings of food items such as salads, sandwiches, a bowl of soup, and vegetables.]()
Peter Lehner
Managing Attorney of the Sustainable Food & Farming Program at EarthJustice
We applaud the Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act, especially at a time when schools are a nutritional lifeline for many households. Industrial meat production creates more methane than the entire oil and gas sector, and animal feeding facilities pollute our waters, cultivate the decline of rural communities, and exacerbate and perpetuate racial injustice. This bill helps to reduce food-related climate change, promote health and nutrition in schools across the country, and strengthen communities - all by providing more choices. -
![Portrait of a woman with long brown hair, smiling, wearing earrings, against a green background with line drawings of food items such as salads, bowls, and vegetables.]()
Jennifer Molidor
Senior Food Campaigner at Center for Biological Diversity
With more than 7 billion school meals served every year, ensuring children have healthy, plant-based food at school is critical to the well-being of future generations and our planet. The Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act is a win-win for school-age children and the environment. -
![Portrait of a woman with glasses and brown, wavy hair, smiling, wearing a purple jacket, with a background featuring green line drawings of various food items.]()
Amie Hamlin
Executive Director Coalition for Healthy School Food
As a non-profit that works with schools around the country to help add plant-based options to their menus, we know that providing a financial incentive for piloting plant-based entrees would be incredibly helpful. Given that plant-based eating is one of the top food trends for health, sustainability, equity, and ethics, and one that is being adopted at a high rate by young people, but especially BIPOC, the lack of plant-based options places a financial burden on families that value plant-based eating and depend on school meals as a lifeline. -
![A woman with short curly black hair, smiling, wearing a light-colored jacket with gold buttons, a black top, and gold jewelry, against a green background with food illustrations.]()
Nnennaya Ihejirikah
Fellow at Our Climate
The Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act is crucial to the health and development of children across the nation. Providing access to healthier, plant-based options in schools gives children a choice to make informed decisions on their health. We discover so much of who we are in the classroom, but the foods we eat over conversations in the cafeteria are just as important.
