Vegan Food is One Step Closer to Being on School Lunch Menus in California

The Healthy, Climate-Friendly School Lunch Act (AB 479) recently passed the California State Assembly Education Committee. The bill, which was introduced last month, aims to fight climate change and improve students’ health by providing extra funding to schools that add or increase the number of vegan entrées and plant-based milks on their menus. AB 479, with a few amendments that led to zero opposition, will now travel to the California State Assembly Committee on Appropriations, where its financial impact will be determined. Last year, the California State Assembly passed a similar bill, SB 1138, which requires prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, and other state-operated facilities to serve at least one plant-based meal option so that patients and inmates can choose meals that meet their health, ethical, and dietary needs.