Brazil Will Serve 5 Million Vegan School Lunches

Officials in three Brazilian cities—Várzea Grande, Cuiabá, and Sao Gonçalo—have committed to serving one plant-based meal per week at city-run schools under the Alimentação Consciente Brasil (“Conscious Eating Brasil”) food policy program initiated by animal-rights organization Mercy For Animals (MFA). Officials in Cuiabá also agreed to implement the food policy in city-run social assistance programs. According to MFA, the change will amount to 5 million vegan meals served in the country per year (or 140,000 vegan meals every week). Veganism is growing quickly in Brazil, a country traditionally known for consuming and producing high amounts of meat. Gustavo Guadagnini, the Brazilian director of non-profit organization Good Food Institute, recently reported that plant-based companies in the country are increasing at a rate of 40 percent annually.