Mission: Get Vegan Options in Your School’s Cafeteria

Posted by Calvin on September 12, 2023

Have you ever dealt with this? You’re skimming your school cafeteria’s menu, trying to find tasty meals and snacks to look forward to, but what do you see? Hamburgers. Chicken nuggets. Cheese sticks. Yuck. 🤢 Don’t you wish there were vegan foods to choose from? Well, you’re not alone.

A ton of high school students are switching away from animal-derived foods, which means now’s the perfect time to get vegan options in your school’s cafeteria. As the demand and praise for vegan food booms, your school will want to keep offering more of these choices. So why not lead the way?

Your Campaign

No matter whether you’re a great public speaker or you shrivel at the sight of a microphone, you can launch an epic campaign to add vegan foods to your school’s cafeteria menu. Don’t worry—this will prob be a very popular decision. Young people really care about animals’ well-being, so you’re sure to get support.

Most students also agree that delicious vegan meals like three-bean chili, veggie burritos, and vegan sushi absolutely slap. Plus, our generation is really into health. Compared to animal-derived foods, plant-based foods are cholesterol-free, are more likely to be low in saturated fats, and decrease the risk of heart disease. 🌱💪💓

Want one more reason to kick-start your campaign? You’ll earn 25 peta2 points from our rewards program! Save up and redeem those points for free drink koozies, laptop sleeves, chic crew necks, and other dope items.

So to recap, you’ll be taking action to prevent countless animals from enduring lives of misery, helping every student get the tasty and healthy lunch they deserve, and earning points for free merch? A rare triple W! 🥳

How to Get Started

Ready to get your campaign rolling? You can literally start rn! Just follow these steps:

1. Check to see which vegan options your school already offers and how often they’re served. It’s also smart to learn whether your cafeteria has a third-party provider, like Aramark, Sodexo, Chartwells, or Bon Appétit, or if the cafeteria is completely operated by the school.

2. Write a letter to the school principal or the cafeteria manager. Make sure you praise the school for the vegan food it already serves while also politely laying out the changes you’re hoping to see. Feel free to use the sample letter below, but remember to personalize it for your school.

[Date]

[Name of Principal or Cafeteria Manager]

[School Name]

[Address]

Dear [Name]:

As a [vegetarian/vegan], having adequate lunch options is important to me. Vegan menu items appeal not only to vegetarian and vegan students but also to those looking for healthy, nondairy, or kosher options.

I would love to work with the school to add a veggie burger to the cafeteria menu. Adding this item would be an easy, financially sound, and compassionate decision that would greatly benefit students like me who avoid eating meat, eggs, and dairy for ethical reasons. Other students skip animal-derived foods for health reasons or to help the environment. In fact, Gen Z is consuming less meat and dairy than previous generations and 79% of us want to go meatless more often. Around 60% would like to focus on eating more “plant-forward” foods.

Providing well-balanced vegan meals is one of the best things you could do for the health of your developing students. Meat, eggs, and dairy are known contributors to heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and other common life-threatening conditions and diseases—and these foods are the leading sources of saturated fat and cholesterol in the American diet. Plant-based foods are free of any dietary cholesterol, and on average, vegans tend to have lower blood cholesterol levels and be less likely to suffer from hypertension or the health issues mentioned above than their meat-eating counterparts.

I have a list of food-service providers and manufacturers that I would love to share with you, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has also offered to help you make arrangements to order veggie burgers for the school menu. Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that we can schedule a meeting to discuss this important matter. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Signature]

[Your Name]

3. Take a picture of your letter, sign into your peta2 account, and submit it for 25 peta2 points! (Heads-up: You’ll only be awarded points for taking this action once.)