Feed Hungry Children Plant-Based School Meals

While most of the plant-based school meal programs that we sponsor (with your generous support!) are part of efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition in low-income regions, it's worth noting the additional benefits of these meals beyond basic provision of food. In the U.S., plant-based school meals have repeatedly been making headlines of late. Writing in the Times Union in a piece titled, "All Students Should Have the Option of a Plant-Based School Lunch," Dr. Jennifer Yager explains: 

"Physicians regularly see the consequences of a lifetime of unhealthy eating: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease... But alarmingly, these diseases now are being diagnosed in children. Research shows that children can experience signs of heart disease as young as 8 and that 25% of U.S. children have high cholesterol levels. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among U.S. children is also surging, increasing 95% between 2001 and 2017, with the greatest increases in African-American and Latino youths.

Plant-based school lunches could help turn around these trends. Decades of research show that a plant-based diet, endorsed by the American Diabetes Association, can help prevent, improve, and even reverse type 2 diabetes. Research also shows that plant-based meals can help children reach a healthy weight, improve heart health and fight type 2 diabetes. Diets high in fruits and veggies have also been found to boost mental health, improve symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and reduce the risk of asthma in children."

She goes on to discuss how one study found that plant-based school meals contained triple the amount of fiber found in standard school lunch entrees, while having zero cholesterol (compared with an average of 54 milligrams in the standard entrees), more iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C, and less fat and saturated fat.

Meawhile, the Healthy Future Students and Earth Coaltiion, which works on legislaition to make plant-based meals more available to kids in public schools, notes that all children, regardless of income or location, have the right to healthy, culturally appropriate plant-based school meals that are part of the climate solution, rather that further fueling the climate crisis that is imperiling our childrens' futures.

When you support our Plant-Based School Meals program, we hope you feel good knowing that you're not only feeding children in need, you're also helping them access the foods that are best for their health and the health of our planet, in addition to protecting animals. Thank you for being part of our mission to create a world with more food and less harm.

Warmly,

A Well-Fed World

A Well-Fed World was thrilled to be accepted onto the GlobalGiving platform in August of 2023, helping our Plants-4-Hunger projects reach a new audience who might otherwise never learn about our work, or understand the critical importance of plant-based hunger relief. As increasing climate disasters worsen global food security, more sustainable, climate-friendlier food aid is needed. Plants-4-Hunger funds plant-based feeding, farming and disaster relief food aid projects around the world that feed more people using far less land, water, and energy, and producing far fewer emissions, while protecting animals, ecosystems, and the planet.

A core component of Plants-4-Hunger is our Plant-Based School Meals program, which sponsors culturally appropriate, plant-based school meals for kids in need in communities experiencing hunger and poverty around the globe. Roughly 45 million children suffer severe malnutrition every year, and at least half of children worldwide under 5 years suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, now recognized as a form of hidden hunger. Vegetables are the major source of most micronutrients, which are vital to healthy development and disease prevention. For some children, school meals are their only full meal of the day, providing crucial nutrition, increased attendance, and improved learning outcomes.

In 2023, our Plant-Based School Meals program sponsored a record number of nourishing meals for children in need. In Ethiopia, through our partner International Fund for Africa, we funded distribution of 180,000 meals to 500 children in 5 primary schools in Addis Ababa. The meals are traditional Ethiopian cuisine and include protein-packed lentils, vegetables, and bread. In Nepal, through our partner Magic Marble Foundation, we funded distribution of 7,000 hearty meals of rice, daal lentils, and mixed vegetable curry to children in schools and orphanages, as well as unhoused community members. And in Haiti, through Canadian partner Haiti Mama, we sponsored a year of plant-based school meals for nearly 200 children in a community school in Port-Au-Prince.

These are just a few of the many life-affirming projects A Well-Fed World’s Plants-4-Hunger program was able to support with your assistance. Thank you so much for your generosity and compassion, and for sharing and supporting our vision for a world that is healthy, well-fed, and kind…all at the same time.

Links:

• A Well-Fed World website
• Plants-4-Hunger details
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