Five Easy Steps to Healthy School Food
Do you want healthful vegetarian and vegan meals served in your school? Many students, teachers, and parents agree with you.
Everyone benefits from healthful vegetarian foods, not just vegetarian students. Plant-based foods are good for you, good for the environment, and good for animals.
Here are some easy steps to get the foods you want in your cafeteria:
Step 1: Talk to people you know.
Ask your friends, teachers, coaches, and parents at your school if they want vegetarian options, too. Even if they aren’t vegetarian, they will likely agree that vegetarian foods should be served in your school. Make a list of all the people who agree with you. If you like, you can even circulate a petition.
Step 2: Set up a meeting with your principal.
Print two copies of each handout in the packet below. Go to the main office, and ask to schedule a meeting with your principal to talk about adding vegetarian and vegan foods to your cafeteria. Leave one packet for your principal and keep one for yourself.
- Personalized letter (Word document)
- Your list of people who agree with you
- Plant-Based Quantity Recipes for School Lunch Programs (PDF)
- Vegetarian Options for School Lunch Programs (PDF)
- Vegetarian Starter Kit
Step 3: Meet with your principal.
Arrive on time for your meeting and bring your packet with you. Remember that your principal wants what is best for students and will very likely agree with you. Read the letter to your principal and let him or her know why vegetarian and vegan foods are important to you. Ask him or her to help bring vegetarian and vegan choices to your school. Tell him or her that the Physicians Committee can help you, free of charge. Thank your principal for meeting with you.
Step 4: Send a thank-you note.
Print out and personalize this thank-you note and give it to your principal the next day.
Step 5: E-mail the Physicians Committee!
Send us an e-mail to let us know how your meeting went. We can help you if you’re having any problems, and we’d like to hear about your success!