ProVeg UK’s School Plates programme does exactly that - making school food more sustainable by swapping carbon-intensive meals with nutritious meat-free and plant-based alternatives. ProVeg UK’s Jimmy Pierson discusses the plant-based school food revolution in his guest blog to celebrate International School Meals Day.

Recent data suggests that only 14% of the UK’s rivers are of a good ecological standard – and none are of a good chemical standard – due to sewage discharges and agricultural and industrial chemicals entering the water system. Run-off from agricultural industries is responsible for 40% of damage to waterways, according to the UK’s Environment Agency.

Since Brexit finally came to pass, there’s been uncertainty within the UK plant-based movement about whether it’s worth engaging with vegan, environmental, and animal-welfare issues in Europe. The plant-based dairy censorship petition is a great example of why EU issues still matter.

This week 21 NGOs called on the European Commission and the European Council to stop plant-based dairy censorship (by preventing amendment 171, passed by the European Parliament in October 2020, from being implemented in Member States). Coming from environmental organisations as diverse as Greenpeace, WWF, and Foodwatch, as well as consumer organisations and animal-welfare groups, including World Animal Protection, the message is clear: protect our planet, its animals, and our health.