Vegan meals should be added to school menus, argues Dumfries Provost

The provost of Dumfries has called for vegan meal options to be added to school menus so that over 1,000 pupils do not miss out.
Tracey Little spoke out at Dumfries and Galloway Council’s education committee last week, insisting that more youngsters are becoming health-conscious but “we are not providing for them”.
“Every time the school menus come in I get more and more disappointed because we have poor and very limited vegetarian options – and no vegan options whatsoever,” she said.
“This maybe seems like a small amount of people, but actually it’s not.
“Six per cent of Scots are vegan and 14 per cent are thinking about it within the next year.
“If you take that six percent, that’s more than 1,200 kids that can’t access school meals.
“Twenty per cent of Gen Z (the generation born between 1997 and 2012) are already on plant-based diets, with a further 26 per cent thinking about within the next year.
“Gen Z – that’s aged nine to 24 – that’s a lot of schoolkids.
“We’re talking 1,200 to 4,000 children who can’t access our school meals. This has been ongoing, and I’m disappointed year on year.”
She added: “I brought this up many times when my children were at school, and it’s never been corrected.
“Can we put some decent options forward? I mean, the vegetarian options are pasta and pizza. That is it, and that’s all there’s ever been.
“We need to be catering for plant-based because it’s growing right across the UK.
“People are becoming more health-conscious – and we are not providing for them.”
The Scottish Government’s brought in new healthy eating legislation eariler this year, forcing the catering service to rethink menus in schools.
This meant a cutback on sugar, a limit on the consumption of processed red meat products, and a steer towards more fruit and vegetables over the course of the school week.
However, vegan meals go further than vegetarian by excluding animal products altogether.
Alan Mawson, a facilities manager with the council, responded to Provost Little’s complaints at the education committee.
He said: “Yes, it’s a point raised often through committee, the menu choices we have.
“We’ve tried to improve the vegetarian options and we have the Nutrition Bill legislation, which restricts us even further now with how many we can put on.
“The reduction of red meat has pushed us to look at alternative options.
“The majority of vegan diets will be referred to through our special diet policy, which works well and is ever-increasing.
“Vegetarian options are always there as part of the daily options that are available.”
The council officer added that any new food item has to go through checks to ensure it’s nutritionally-balanced before it can be added to the school menu.
He also said that a customer survey was recently completed, with 1,600 responses, and that all feedback will be taken on board.