Chris Packham urges schools to have more plant-based lunch options

Television presenter and conservationist Chris Packham is urging schools to introduce more plant-based options on lunch menus. He has become an ambassador for the School Plates programme, run by ProVeg UK, which helps schools increase the quality, quantity and uptake of veggie meals. It works with school caterers, mostly local authorities, across the country to create ‘climate-friendly school menus’, currently feeding over half a million children each day.

Packham said: “[School Plates] is a great initiative – it’s all about getting young people in schools to explore a more plant-based diet, because, we’ve got to be honest here - in order for us to hope for a healthier, happier, more sustainable future, we need to make some changes. One of the things that we can do relatively easily here in the UK is change what we eat. There’s no ambiguity about the fact that we need to be eating less meat. What we’re interested in is a transition – asking people who eat a lot [of meat] to eat a little less, being patient and kind as they go through that process.”

Packham is due to speak at the national Schools Climate Assembly in Sheffield today, alongside young activists, a CEO of Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace UK's former executive director.