What if you could protect our planet, improve the health of school children, and save money – all through the simplest of changes?
Well, great news – you can. All through our School Plates Programme.
We help school caterers make small changes to menus that can have a big impact on children’s health and the health of the planet.
Waltham Forest Carering is the winner of the Green School Menu League, an initiative launched ealier in the year by Meatless Farm, ProVeg and the UK’s youngest vegan chef, Omari McQueen
What we do
ProVeg UK’s flagship programme, School Plates, helps schools to serve healthy, climate-friendly meals by increasing the quality, quantity, and uptake of plant-based food as well as promoting more plants and less meat on menus. We’re the only organisation dedicated to doing this in the UK.
Working with local authorities, multi-academy trusts, individual schools, and contract caterers, we offer a range of free services, including:
Menu consultation and advice
New recipes and recipe development
Workshops and training
The ProVeg School Plates Awards
Climate, health and budget analysis
Network meetings and webinars
Menu consultation
Menu consultation and advice
- Providing real choice and rebalancing menus
- Subtle nudges: positive language and plant-based promotion
- Chef training & taste-testing
- Plant-rich menus & planet-friendly days
- Celebrating your plant-forward journey with our School Plates Awards
New recipes and recipe development
Working with plant-based chefs, we create delicious plant-based recipes that are inspired by familiar favourites, nutritious, climate-friendly, affordable and easy to make in a school kitchen.
We think it’s important to keep children healthy, happy, and able to concentrate at school.
That’s why all of our School Plates recipes…
- are equivalent to meat-based dishes in terms of protein content
- are lower in saturated fat
- and rich in fibre and essential nutrients
- are low or very low carbon-rated
- meet the food and nutrition standards for school food in the UK.
Not only are our recipes healthy and delicious – they’re also environmentally friendly and affordable.
- 27% of the emissions of meat-based school meals.
- 59p per primary school portion – significantly less than the average meat-based school meal.
- 30% more fibre and 87% lower in saturated fat
Workshops and training
Through our Plant-based Cooking in Schools Workshops, we give caterers the tools, techniques, and confidence to serve healthier and more sustainable meals.
In-person workshops
In these training sessions, our experienced and enthusiastic experienced plant-based chef trainers work together with local school caterers, development chefs, and other kitchen staff, and sometimes also local suppliers. Our aim is to educate and inspire everyone to approach plant-based food with a new perspective, build confidence with new ingredients and recipes, and have lots of fun while we’re at it!
Online workshops
Join us for our Plant-based Cooking in Schools online workshops and training. These sessions are aimed at caterers, individual schools, those running climate projects in schools, and anyone else who is interested in plant-based cooking or eating. We demonstrate how to prepare simple, affordable, nutritionally balanced – and most importantly – tasty plant-based recipes that we know children love!
Online Training
- Workshops – live 1-hour workshops focusing on seasonal menu changes, featuring recipe demos, an expert guest speaker, and Q&A opportunities. Previous workshops can be accessed here. (https://www.youtube.com/@proveguk660/featured)
- Online training – new short training videos covering key School Plates topics will be available from January 2025
Online topics:- Introduction to the School Plates programme.
- Why it’s important to offer healthy and sustainable menus with planet-friendly meals.
- How to use plant-based ingredients, cooking methods, and recipe demos.
- School Plates Awards introduction and information on evidence-based actions.
Bespoke options:
- We can help plan a bespoke training plan for you – get in touch to see how we can support you.
Our menu-certification scheme: The ProVeg School Plates Awards
UK school caterers are doing incredible work to make their menus healthier and more sustainable. The ProVeg School Plates Awards are our way of recognising the positive steps they are taking for children’s health and the planet.
The ProVeg School Plates Awards is an evidenced-based, tiered awards system that presents school caterers across the UK with Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards as a prestigious recognition of their commitment to healthy and sustainable school menus.
Taking part in the Awards is free – it’s simply our way of recognising your amazing efforts.
We’ve created a simple and subtle checklist of evidence-based school-food actions for caterers that are impactful and practical to implement.
Measuring Impact
By introducing powerful, plant-forward actions such as planet-friendly days, blending plant proteins into popular meat dishes, and increasing vegetables and legumes in dishes, school caterers can lead the way in fostering sustainable eating that benefits communities and the environment.
The data supporting these benefits is compelling, highlighting the transformative potential of embracing sustainable and healthy options on school menus.
We’re here to help you demonstrate the positive impact of the changes you’re making. By providing us with some basic data and collaborating with our programme analyst, we can generate a report showcasing personalised impact data. This report can be shared with your stakeholders to advocate for the changes and celebrate success together!
Network meetings and Webinars
We host a regular online networking meeting, featuring presentations from caterers and local authorities sharing their experiences. Participants share their Awards journeys, explore the impact of their menu changes, and discuss what has worked well and the challenges they have overcome in making their menus more planet-friendly. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about School Plates, to ask questions, share ideas, and seek peer support.
We’d love to see you there! You can sit quietly and soak up the information or get more involved – it’s up to you.
We also offer customised webinars for caterers, climate and sustainability organisations, as well as public health and other government departments to share how we can work together to make school food healthier and more climate-friendly. We are also happy to join your events, including climate or health summits, to talk about food or facilitate workshops.
As a non-profit organisation, we provide all of these services completely free of charge.
We are the extra pair of hands helping schools to create sustainable, healthier, and cheaper menus.
In addition to our School Plates programme, we also work on a number of other initiatives, including Hospital Plates and policy work.
Why we do it
We care passionately about the food we serve to schoolchildren. We want all children to thrive and be nourished by good food that they love. We also care deeply about the future of our planet and recognise that sustainable food choices are one of the key solutions in addressing the climate crisis.
Key Reasons
01
The climate
Moving towards plant-rich diets is one of the most impactful actions we can take to reduce our environmental footprint. We need to eat more plants and less meat and dairy for the future of our planet.
Did you know?
Farming animals for food has a significant impact on the climate:
- Animal farming is responsible for up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
- It is the leading cause of deforestation, water use, biodiversity loss, and species extinction.
- Beef emits 50 times more greenhouse gases per gram of protein than pulses such as beans and lentils.
- Plant-based diets generally have about half the carbon footprint of conventional diets.
- Plant-based products have a smaller carbon footprint than their animal-based counterparts – up to 90% in some cases.
Even if we stopped emissions from all fossil fuels right now, emissions from food production alone would take us well beyond the carbon budget for 1.5°C. This is why it is both essential and urgent that we address our eating habits.
The Climate Change Committee has recommended a 20% shift away from all meat and dairy by 2030 (rising to 35% by 2050) in order to put the UK on the path to net-zero emissions.
Most local authorities have declared a climate emergency, with many keen to address the climate issues through school food. UK schools serve 1.2 billion meals every year, with most of these meals containing animal-based products. Our calculations show that our plant-based school recipes emit just over a quarter of the carbon emissions of an average meat-based dish.
02
Improve children’s health
Whole plant-based foods are great for our health. They are packed with nutrients and fibre, are lower in saturated fat than animal-based products, and lower the risk of chronic diseases.
Children require nutrient-dense foods to fuel their rapid growth and development. Whole plant foods are rich in essential vitamins and minerals, fibre, and antioxidants, all of which are crucial for maintaining optimum health. Whole plant foods such as beans and lentils and plant-based foods such as tofu and soya mince are also good sources of protein.
A diet based around a diverse range of whole plant foods with low levels of saturated fat can support children in maintaining a healthy weight while also reducing the risk of a range of lifestyle diseases including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.
Did you know?
- Most children are fibre deficient, with only 18% of children aged 5-15 years, eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
- Around a third of children eat one or less than one portion of vegetables a day.
The National Food Strategy has recommended the following changes to the UK national diet by 2032, compared to 2019: 30% less meat, 20% more fruit and vegetables, and 50% more fibre.
Our School Plates recipes are based on whole plant foods and are inspired by popular children’s dishes to help them transition to healthier meals and become familiar with new plant-based ingredients. Eating a wide range of richly-coloured, whole-plant foods is a key priority for the School Plates programme.
03
Save time and money
We know what you are thinking: “What will this cost?”. Here’s the good news: plant-based ingredients and meals are often more affordable than meat and meat-based dishes.
This is because animal-based products are among the most expensive food items we buy (which makes sense since they are far more resource-intensive). Whole plant-based foods, in particular, are often considerably more affordable than their meat-based alternatives. For example, chickpeas are far cheaper than chicken, and lentils cost only a small fraction of the price of minced beef!
Many of our catering partners have reported that adding more plant-based dishes to their menus helps them save money. One academy trust has saved 20% on its purchasing costs!
Our impact so far
More than
7,000 schools
now benefitting from healthier and more sustainable school menus
1.2 Million
children eating more plant-based food through school plates
37 Million
meals made healthier and more planet-friendly
We’re delighted to be working with over 70 major catering partners – including a third of all UK local authorities responsible for school food – helping them to create more planet-friendly menus.
Be a part of something big. Join so many others already making the change.
Direction of change
With more and more people embracing plant-based foods, the shift is also gaining momentum in the public sector. A government campaign was launched in 2020 to reduce the amount of meat served in the public sector by 20%. It attracted widespread support from the industry, including LACA and ASSIST FM. A recent study found that over 80% of public-sector caterers have committed to meat reduction, with 83% committing to increasing plant proteins by 20%.
A YouGov survey found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of 11-to-18-year-olds thought that the environment and climate change was one of the most important issues for the country. Those in the survey who wanted to eat less meat also said they wanted to see more meat-free options available at school, since they’re not always able to influence shopping habits at home.
In a survey conducted by the Children’s Food Campaign, UK parents overwhelmingly support extending healthy school meals to all children and want more nutritious, planet-friendly options on school menus.
Recent data from a public attitude survey by Eating Better reveals that 61% of people want to reduce their meat consumption due to concerns about the environment and animal welfare, as well as financial considerations. Additionally, 78% of respondents want to see healthier food in schools, and 75% want to protect nature and biodiversity in order to support food production in the future.
Small changes, BIG impact
School Plates is revolutionising the future of school food across the UK. Our catering partners have already seen fantastic results through our FREE services, and our programme is growing exponentially each year.
We are here to support you on your plant-forward journey, matching the pace of change to fit the needs of your schools and communities, and helping you achieve your climate and health goals. Get in touch today to find out more and get started!
Resources
School Plates: The Guide
School Plates: The Recipes 1
School Plates: The Recipes 2
Case Studies
Our School Plates programme has had a massive impact on school food in the UK, swapping millions of meals for healthier and more sustainable alternatives. But don’t just take our word for it, we think it’s best that you learn about School Plates from the people we’ve helped…
Partners
FIFE COUNCIL
“Even things as simple as shuffling the meals around so that the meat-based and plant-based meals are mixed up and not having meat-based meals appear at the top of our menu, have helped to encourage our pupils to take the plantbased choice a little more often than they would have usually.”
Menu Development Team
H4S, Fife Council
LONDON BOROUGH OF BARKING & DAGENHAM
“ProVeg are doing a great job of trying to encourage and educate school caterers on the health benefits and the sustainability of what they are producing for pupils. I have found them really helpful and always available when needing assistance. Their practical training day with our school cooks was a great day, with some fantastic plant-based recipes.”
Daniel Williams
Executive Chef, BD Together
LONDON BOROUGH OF HAVERING
“The input from ProVeg, by providing us with simple adjustments such as rephrasing menu descriptors, has enabled us to improve customer engagement. The support and engagement from ProVeg has been well received by all in the service and we look forward to continuing our work with them.”
Charlotte Newman
School Catering Nutritionist, HES Catering
LONDON BOROUGH OF WALTHAM FOREST
“Working with ProVeg has enabled our Schools Catering team to access practical expertise to make their ambitions around nutritious, costeffective, climate-friendly school food a reality. The feedback we’ve received on our menus shows children and adults alike are learning how delicious plant-based dishes can be. These menus also address the eco-anxiety that is increasing amongst our children, empowering them to make small daily choices that help the planet. The ProVeg School Plates programme helps school caterers demonstrate a practical commitment to more climate-friendly service delivery and every school should be asking ‘How does our provider measure up?’”
Natalie Kruger
Head of Operations – Services to Schools, London
Borough of Waltham Forest
MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL
“It was great to see the number of caterers who changed their views about plant-based meals at our recent workshop. I also had a chance to try the meals, which were delicious, and we will be looking to run another workshop in future to cover more school caterers.”
Rob Potter
Project Manager, Manchester City Council
MEONCROSS SCHOOL, HAMPSHIRE
The School Plates programme “has made me think much harder about how to make more plant-based foods accessible to all pupils, whilst planning menus. It has helped with reducing costs by using more pulses in our (main) meals.”
Deborah Davis
Catering Manager at Meoncross School – a private school with an in-house catering department
Parents
“It is good to see [my child’s school] driving the
message about eating less meat to help all in the
future.”
“It’s great to see meals made from whole plant
foods available at my child’s school. These
are a much better alternative to deep-fried
and processed meat dishes with a few stray
vegetables on the side. That was all you could
really eat when I was at school!”
“My two children normally have a packed lunch
but, on meat-free days they always want to have
a school dinner.”
“My children normally will not eat vegetables, but
on meat-free days my son comes home saying
that the lunch today was yummy and that he
tried and liked the vegetables.”
“I wish more schools would introduce this as one
of my children enjoys this through TDET and my
other child does not have this from his school.”
“It’s good to see less meat on menus and varied
meat-free options. Well done. Keep it up.”
Kids
“The taste is spectacular!”
“Eating more plants can help your health, is good
for the planet, and for animals. Definitely, better
for the animals. So it’s a win-win-win really!”
“I wish we could do this [Canteen to Classroom
session] all of the time. We might be on this
planet for another 100 years, so it’s important we
know how best to look after it.”
About the ProVeg UK School Plates Team
In the UK, we work with local authorities and school caterers to increase the health and sustainability of school food. We review menus and provide advice, data analysis, new recipes, and plant-based cooking workshops in order to increase the quality and quantity of plant-based food in schools. As a co-founder of the Plant-based Food Alliance UK, we influence national food policy, and raise awareness of the importance of plant-based food for people, animals, and the planet, through our various campaigns.
ProVeg UK is a non-profit organisation, is registered as a community-interest company, and is entirely donor-funded.
Jimmy Pierson
Director
A former lawyer and journalist, Jimmy created School Plates in 2018. It is now a well-established programme helping schools and local authorities make delicious, sustainable food.
… Read MoreDirector
A former lawyer and journalist, Jimmy created School Plates in 2018. It is now a well-established programme helping schools and local authorities make delicious, sustainable food.
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Colette Fox
Head of Programme
Colette leads the School Plates programme and the Global Plant-Based School Food Network, which brings together organisations across five continents with the shared goal of…
Read MoreHead of Programme
Colette leads the School Plates programme and the Global Plant-Based School Food Network, which brings together organisations across five continents with the shared goal of making school food planet-friendly. She is a certified nutrition coach.
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Sophia Millar
Programme Manager
Sophia is a former primary school teacher and senior leader with 18 years of experience in education. She is a registered nutritionist and nutritional therapist, with…
Read MoreProgramme Manager
Sophia is a former primary school teacher and senior leader with 18 years of experience in education. She is a registered nutritionist and nutritional therapist, with a focus on children’s gut and immune health, bringing her much valued clinical and teaching experience to our team. Sophia oversees the management of our School Plates programme, and also coordinates the programme across Wales, where she is based.
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Polly Higginson
Programme Coordinator (Scotland and Northern Ireland)
Polly has spent her career working in food and sustainability. She worked for over 10 years in the hospitality industry as a…
Read MoreProgramme Coordinator (Scotland and Northern Ireland)
Polly has spent her career working in food and sustainability. She worked for over 10 years in the hospitality industry as a restaurant chef and business owner and is passionate about cooking healthy, delicious plant-rich food. She is a parent of two primary-aged children, and is School Plates Programme Coordiantor for Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as one of the programme’s chef trainers.
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Ellie Murphy
Programme Coordinator (England)
Ellie has a background in nutrition and 20 years of experience planning and delivering cookery and caterer training. She manages our partnerships in England and…
Read MoreProgramme Coordinator (England)
Ellie has a background in nutrition and 20 years of experience planning and delivering cookery and caterer training. She manages our partnerships in England and supports local authorities to make their menus healthier and more sustainable. She also delivers our caterer training.
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Alex Jemison
Programme Coordinator (Awards)
Alex is the School Plates Awards Coordinator. A former opera singer with a degree in modern languages, she has always been passionate about communicating, so…
Read MoreProgramme Coordinator (Awards)
Alex is the School Plates Awards Coordinator. A former opera singer with a degree in modern languages, she has always been passionate about communicating, so it’s no surprise that she loves to share her passion for School Plates!
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Sarah Morton
Programme Analyst
Sarah is our Programme Analyst, trained as a chartered accountant she is a self-confessed data geek. She worked in Local Government for 31 years before following…
Read MoreProgramme Analyst
Sarah is our Programme Analyst, trained as a chartered accountant she is a self-confessed data geek. She worked in Local Government for 31 years before following her passion into a career more focused on sustainability. She has a young daughter, so school food is very important to her personally, as well as for the planet’s future.
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Volunteer
By joining ProVeg’s UK’s Volunteer Network, you can use your skills to help support our School Plates programme and accelerate the start a school-food revolution!
We’re always on the lookout for driven volunteers who share our vision. Whatever your skill set – whether it’s communications, nutrition, teaching, cooking, or anything else – we’d love to hear from you!
You can work with us for a limited period of time or provide support on an ongoing basis. If you’ are interested in joining ProVeg UK as a volunteer, please use the form below to register. As soon as there is a suitable project for you, we will get in touch. We also regularly publish open positions on this page.
If you have any questions about the Volunteer Network, please reach out to us at [email protected].
Donate
What if we told you that we can help schools provide children with healthy, environmentally-friendly food that tastes spectacular – …all free of charge?
Well, that’s exactly what we do here at ProVeg UK. We’ve swapped millions of school dinners for meat-free or plant-based options. We’re entirely donor-funded, so it’s only thanks to the generous support of people like you that we’re able to create such a huge impact.
Every child deserves access to healthy, sustainable food. Donate to School Plates today and help provide more children with this vital service.
If you’re already a regular donor member and would like to increase your contribution to ProVeg, please send a short email to [email protected]
Contact
School Plates enquiries: [email protected]
Awards scheme enquiries: [email protected]
England partner enquiries: [email protected]
Scotland and Northern Ireland partner enquiries: [email protected]
Wales partner enquiries: [email protected]
Media enquiries: jade.chapman@proveg.org
For all other enquiries, please fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.