Many school districts are struggling with how to make sure kids get healthy food at school. Pasig City in the Philippines has taken a bold approach: it is now illegal to serve or advertise unhealthy food to children on or near a school on a school day. This applies not just to school canteens themselves, but stalls, stores, and fast food outlets within 50 meters of schools.
To replace unhealthy foods like instant noodles and soft drinks, the city and schools are promoting healthier, often plant-based choices like fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
What’s next?
This law is a great step towards healthier school meals. The next step to make Pasig City a real school-food leader is to include two dedicated vegetarian days per week by 2020.
Greenpeace’s global challenge:
Our supporters are challenging cities to race to the top on meat reduction to protect our climate, forests, and water. We aim to have at least 50 cities commit to serving two vegetarian meals (no meat or dairy options) in all public canteens weekly by the end of 2019. We expect to have at least 100 global cities make this or a greater commitment toward less and better meat and more plant-rich meals by 2020.