BERKELEY, CA — As kids return to pandemic-shuttered schools, a new report,
The State of School Lunch in California, urges major policy shifts to better align school food menus with racial equity and climate goals, as well as public health recommendations on healthy eating. A first-of-its-kind analysis, the Friends of the Earth report offers substantial data to track progress towards healthy, climate-friendly school meals, recommending a shift to more plant-based entrees on kids’ lunch trays.
The study analyzes more than 1,300 entrees from California’s 25 largest K-12 school districts, finding that despite improvements in overall meal patterns, cheeseburgers, meat pizzas, chicken nuggets and hot dogs are among the most widely served items on the menu. Only 4 percent of menu entrees were plant-based and 16 percent contained processed meat, which is considered carcinogenic by the World Health Organization.