Generated Summary
This policy brief, published by Friends of the Earth, addresses regulatory barriers encountered by school foodservice professionals when seeking to offer more plant-forward meals. The study analyzes how the USDA could modify K-12 meal pattern requirements and nutrition guidelines for meat/meat alternates (M/MA) to support healthier, plant-forward menus. The report assesses the current state of plant-based options in school cafeterias, identifies challenges related to USDA standards, and proposes changes to align school nutrition standards with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The research draws on a 2019 analysis of California school lunches and incorporates insights from interviews with over 20 school foodservice and nutrition professionals. The primary aim of the brief is to facilitate the integration of more plant-based meals within school nutrition programs, thereby promoting healthier eating habits among students and addressing the environmental and health-related concerns associated with traditional diets.
Key Findings & Statistics
- The document notes that youth meet or exceed the recommended servings for meats, poultry, and eggs.
- A 2019 analysis of California school lunches showed that only 4 percent of entrée offerings were plant-based.
- The 2019 analysis also revealed that about half of the entree offerings were nut butter and jelly.
- The DGA specifically states that “replacing processed or high fat meats with beans, peas and lentils” would help to “increase dietary fiber, a dietary component of public health concern.”
- The National School Lunch Program requires vendors of alternate protein products (e.g. a soy nugget), or program operators using such products, to demonstrate that the products meet a hard-to-decipher formulation to credit as a M/MA.
- Currently, nuts or seeds may be used to meet no more than one-half of the M/MA component.
- USDA’s nutritional equivalencies for tofu, nut butters, and cheese are inconsistent with nutrition science, impacting taste and leading to food waste.
- To credit at 2 M/MA, 4.4 oz of tofu containing 10 grams of protein would need to be offered per entrée, which is simply too much tofu.
- A nut butter sandwich would need to include 4 tablespoons of nut butter to credit as 2 M/MA.
- A grilled cheese sandwich would require ~3.5 average slices of cheese, which is equivalent to 3.5 recommended serving sizes, to credit as 2 M/MA.
Other Important Findings
- School meals are a crucial point of leverage to instill healthy eating habits at a young age and combat the crisis of diet-related disease, especially for the many students who rely on free and reduced-price school meals as their primary source of nutrition.
- Leading public health organizations agree that a minimally processed, plant-predominant diet protects against chronic diseases including diabetes, heart, kidney and gastrointestinal disease, as well as obesity and certain cancers.
- Plant-rich diets are a crucial solution to the climate crisis that our youth face.
- The DGA recommends increasing fiber-rich, plant-forward protein choices to children.
- The report recommends allowing beans, peas, lentils, tofu, and soy products to qualify as M/MA even if not visually recognizable.
- It is recommended to enable beans, peas, and lentils to credit as both a vegetable and M/MA if served in sufficient quantities.
- The same pulse dish should be able to credit as a vegetable or M/MA in a single day.
- The document suggests diversifying protein options by allowing more flexibility for beans/peas/lentils to credit as M/MA.
- It recommends allowing quinoa and other “complete” grains that are not limited in amino acids to qualify as M/MA.
- The report suggests amending regulation to allow nuts and seeds to credit fully as a M/MA.
- It is recommended to enable alternate protein products (APPs) to credit if they include a minimum grams of protein per serving.
- The document suggests creating more consistent and practical nutritional equivalencies for M/MA.
- The report recommends renaming the Meat/Meat Alternate category.
- FNS should provide school food operators flexibility to offer beans, peas, and lentils as M/MA in forms that are attractive and familiar to students, such as pulse-based pastas, burgers, dips, and pureed soups.
- The report provides options such as create a standalone beans, peas, and lentils weekly requirement that could be met either by serving them as a vegetable or as M/MA.
- Eliminate the vegetable subgroup requirement and create a beans, peas, and lentils subgroup requirement under the M/MA category.
- Allow schools to offer a minimum number of entrees in a given week that contain beans, peas, and lentils as M/MA.
- Quinoa is classified as a whole grain, with one cup cooked providing about 8 grams of protein.
- The nutritional content of nuts and seeds does not change when these foods are blended or pureed into butter form, and the DGA does not justify the disparate regulation of nuts and seeds in their whole form.
Limitations Noted in the Document
- The report mentions that the findings and recommendations are based on extensive interviews with more than 20 School foodservice and nutrition professionals, but does not provide specific information about the methodology used for the interviews, potentially limiting the generalizability of the findings.
- The report primarily focuses on the challenges and opportunities within the context of school nutrition standards, with less attention to the broader implications for overall food systems transformation.
- The document mentions the need for USDA to address recommendations in its rulemaking process but does not provide details on the timeline or the potential impact of these changes.
- The research relies on a 2019 analysis of California school lunches, which may not fully represent the current state of plant-based options in school cafeterias across different regions or states.
- The report’s recommendations are specific to the US context, and the applicability of the findings to other countries or regions may be limited due to variations in dietary guidelines, food regulations, and school nutrition programs.
Conclusion
The Friends of the Earth policy brief highlights the need for regulatory changes to promote plant-forward school meals, emphasizing the health, environmental, and cultural benefits of increasing plant-based options in school cafeterias. The report underscores the importance of aligning school nutrition standards with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) to provide children with greater access to fiber-rich, plant-forward protein choices. The core recommendations advocate for greater flexibility in how beans, peas, lentils, and other plant-based foods are credited within the meat/meat alternate (M/MA) category, as well as the need to create more practical and consistent nutritional equivalencies. The study points to the negative perception created by the term “Meat/Meat Alternate,” suggesting a renaming to “Protein Foods Group” to better reflect the broader inclusion of plant-based protein sources. The study concludes that implementing these changes could foster greater alignment with the DGA, reduce the carbon footprint of school meals, and encourage school food operators to be more creative in their offerings. The document emphasizes the urgency of acting on these recommendations, particularly regarding allowing greater flexibility for plant-based protein sources.