In March of 2017, Portugal passed a landmark new law, requiring that all publicly-funded institutions that serve food must offer a vegan option for every meal! This includes schools, elder care facilities, universities, and hospitals.
The new policy has been in practice for less than a year, so the impacts are still being measured. But initial reaction to the policy has been positive. The proposal gained support because people appreciated the freedom to choose what kind of meal they wanted.
‘
What’s next?
This policy is sure to go a long way in helping people feel more comfortable with plant-based meals. The next step is to implement vegetarian days in public canteens.
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 20 cities commit to serving two vegetarian meals (no meat or dairy options) in all public canteens weekly by the end of 2018. We expect to have at least 100 global cities make this or a greater commitment toward less and better meat and more plant-based meals by 2020.