Illinois Vegan School Lunch Program Thrives at Logan Square School

LOGAN SQUARE — A vegetarian school lunch law celebrates one year of ensuring Illinois students have access to plant-based lunches — and it’s especially popular at one Logan Square school.

Illinois passed a first-of-its-kind law in 2022 guaranteeing students the right to plant-based school meals upon request. Advocates and state leaders gathered last week to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the program, which began in August 2023 and has seen more than 1,000 parents opt for plant-based school meals in 278 school districts for their students.

Students who participate in the program can fill their bellies with plant-based school meals such as bean and cheese quesadillas, veggie pot pies, jackfruit mole and more.

Chase Elementary, 2021 N. Point St., has the highest concentration of students of any Illinois school that has opted into the plant-based lunch program, officials said at the press conference. last week.

Meryl Fury, president and CEO of the Plant-Based Nutrition Movement, a nonprofit organization, works with schools across the Midwest to teach children the benefits of vegetarian meals. After the law passed, his group partnered with Balanced, another nonprofit focused on increasing access to nutritional plant-based meals in institutions, to create More Plants on Plates , a simplified way for Illinois parents to sign their children up for plant-based meals. meals in their schools. Teenagers can register on their own.

Since the start of this school year, Chase has had nearly 20 enrollments through More Plants on Plates, a high concentration in one school compared to other schools in the state that have seen two or three students enroll this year , Fury said.

“The good news is that with schools that have completely switched to plant-based lunches, and there are a few, they are seeing a huge drop in waste, an increase in participation and a decrease costs, because a quarter cup of lentils is a good thing. cheaper than a hamburger,” Fury said.

More schools are also choosing to offer plant-based meals as education, awareness and demand increase, which is the goal, Fury said.

Fury, who has a background in nursing and human health, has seen children go from hating broccoli and spices to happily eating greener, more diverse foods, she said.

“When we can spend time with them and introduce them to these foods, first of all, they are blown away,” she said. “At first it’s very defensive, but after you’re exposed and you see your friends eating it, and they’re fine, they haven’t dropped dead yet, the other kids try it. It’s like this positive peer pressure.

Some schools have seen the law open the door to offering more culturally relevant meals with help from the Plant-Based Nutrition Movement, she said.