Recently, 4 Brazilian cities have pledged to serve only entirely plant-based meals in school cafeterias by the end of 2019. Many are calling this bold move, ‘historic’ and will certainly raise some eyebrows, provoke some questions, and likely inspire other countries to follow suit.

Officials from Serrinha, Barroca, Teofilandia and Birtinga have teamed up with the charity, Humane Society International, (HSI) to begin implementing this program throughout the schools in the aforementioned cities. The schools will begin by reducing consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 25 percent per semester until they reach their 100% plant-based goal by 2019.

Small Acts, When Multiplied By Millions Of People Can Transform The World

According to the HSI, “This marks the first time in history that any school districts have committed exclusively to plant-based cafeterias. The change will impact over 23 million meals a year.”

That is certainly a large number and is sure to have an even larger impact when you consider that this knowledge of plant-based eating will surely go home with some of the students and spread to their parents and other family members

Leader of the creation of this program, Leticia Baird, Brazilian Public Prosecutor for the Environment in the state of Bahia said, “Providing our school districts with plant-based meals will help save environmental and public financial resources, allow for a future of healthy adults and build a fair world for the animals.”

Sandra Lopes, Food Policy Manager for HSI in Brazil, added: “We applaud the cities of Serrinha, Barroca, Teofilandia, and Biritinga for becoming the world’s first school districts to commit to going 100 percent plant-based.”

She continued, “It’s an honour to have worked with city authorities, nutritionists and school cooks on the adoption and implementation of this initiative, and we’re excited to continue working closely with them to ensure the success of this program.”

As Awareness Grows, Change Happens

The momentum towards this movement has started, and it is only increasing – it’s not going anywhere. In fact, Veganism In The U.S. Had Grown By 600% In The Past 3 Years. People are starting to see real value in regards to not only the health effects, but also the environmental and humane implications of eating a diet that largely consists of meat and animal products.

By now it has almost become common knowledge that fruits and veggies are what the body needs to thrive, but that is in no way saying that everyone should or needs to be vegan. We can all do our part however, to take responsibility for our actions and do what we can for the animals, the environment and for our health. We directly create the type of world we live in by our actions. The impact that we can have by simply choosing to eat less meat is truly astounding and is a simple thing that we can all do to protect our planet.

Much Love