3rd February 2006

Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP
Minister of State for Schools and 14 – 19 Learners
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
Westminster
LONDON
SW1P 3BT

Dear Jacqui

Thank you for your letter dated 17th December 2005. I am responding on behalf of Redditch Vegetarians and Vegans and apologise that it has taken me so long to reply.

Firstly, the matter of the Redditch secondary school student who was not being offered vegan meals appears to have been resolved, although not until her parent contacted the school and the headteacher, who is apparently very supportive, intervened personally on her behalf. I understand that the pupil is now being offered a range of vegan food at lunchtime and is happy with the situation.

I was able to look at the website you recommended ( www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations ) and read the report ‘Turning the Tables: Transforming School Food.’ I note, however, that it made no specific mention of the provision of vegetarian or vegan food in school meals. The main thrust of the report seems to be focused on the need to reduce the level of salt, sugar and saturated fat in school meals and to replace meat slurry, fizzy drinks and processed foods, which all seems eminently sensible. However, the omission of any direct reference to vegan or even vegetarian food in the report and an allusion to vegetarian food only in the annexe of a further publication you mention suggests very strongly that it is not considered to have any place in school catering. This seems to me frankly inexcusable, for the following reasons:

1. There is no nutrient essential to human health which cannot be obtained from a plant source and plant-based food is extremely low in saturated fat but high in fibre and anti-oxidants, which we now know prevent many forms of disease. There are numerous studies which support this assertion and I can personally recommend the excellent ‘Plant based Nutrition and Health’ by Dr Stephen Walsh PhD.
2. Preparing vegan food is no more complicated or difficult than preparing dishes containing animal products. There are soya alternatives for a number of dairy products, including milk, cream, yoghurt, hard and soft cheeses and margarine. Eggs can be replaced in a majority of dishes by a mixture of soya flour and water. Stock can be made with vegetable constituents. With the possible exception of meringue and Yorkshire pudding, there is no recipe for which a vegan alternative cannot be produced.
3. Pulses are a significantly cheaper form of protein than meat, fish, cheese and eggs. Nuts are somewhat more expensive but are energy-dense and therefore would be used more sparingly in any case.
4. Vegetarian and vegan food carries a much lower risk of food poisoning, always a consideration when catering for large numbers. In addition, avoiding meat products means avoiding unwanted doses of the antibiotics and growth hormones with which animals in the food chain are arbitrarily and routinely dosed.
5. Vegan food is suitable not just for vegans but for vegetarians, the lactose intolerant, various religious groups who are vegetarian, e.g. Hindus, Seiks etc.and even for meat eaters. It is, in fact, suitable for everyone.
6. According to John Hartley in his book, “Profit from Emerging Dietary Trends”, there are now about 4 million vegetarians and vegans in the UK. Each month about 20,000 more people are switching to a plant-based diet. Inevitably many of these convertees will be young people and some will be of school age. It would be somewhat ironic, would it not, if their decision to embrace a healthier diet were not supported by the very establishments which are seeking to open their minds to the possibilities of change, diversity and new possibilities beyond their immediate horizons.
7. A vegan diet is environmentally sustainable, unlike a meat-based one. Animal agriculture uses huge amounts of water, energy and chemicals. Between 1960 and 2000 worldwide usage of water doubled, and agriculture now uses 70% of all water. (It takes for example 1,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of wheat against 100,000 times as much water to produce 1kg of beef). International tensions over access to this precious natural resource are likely to feature more and more frequently in the future. Further, one quarter of the world’s fertile land is now given over to agriculture, and pressure for grazing areas for cattle has led to deforestation, which, since trees very effectively hold the earth in place with their roots, has given rise to a greater likelihood of landslides, erosion and desertification. In addition, trees act as a sponge, filtering rainwater through their roots, trunks, branches and finally their leaves, and releasing it only gradually back into the atmosphere, thus preventing a sudden rise in water levels. Deforestation has thus paved the way for a greater incidence of flooding. Cattle also release of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere as a bi-product of their digestive process, contributing to global warming. Those who have inherited a world in which ecological issues will become increasingly difficult to ignore may perhaps be forgiven for deciding that they do wish not to contribute to further environmental destruction.
8. A vegan diet could, if more widely embraced in the western world, where one third of the world’s grain is fed to farm animals, contribute to the relief of famine. It is estimated that there is enough food for the entire population of the world with some left over, but high quality food such as wheat and soya etc. which is eminently suitable for human consumption, is diverted from the mouths of the hungry in order that we may enjoy hamburgers and bacon. Animals do of course give us back food for the investment of our grain, in the form of meat and dairy products, eggs etc, but they convert it very inefficiently, for example, it takes 24 calories in the form of wheat or soya to produce 1 calorie of beef. This is mainly because they use the energy latent in it for their own bodily processes, e.g. respiration and digestion etc as well as locomotion. Avoiding meat does not in fact altogether alleviate this situation, because if you want milk you need cows and if you want eggs you need chickens. Veganism, where you take a step down the food chain and consume grain directly yourself instead of feeding it to animals, makes it stretch much further. And those who say that humans are by some natural law at the top of the food chain should observe that animals who are truly destined to occupy that position, i.e. carnivores such as lions, are invariably few in number compared to the herbivores they prey on, such as large herds of gazelles and zebras. If the latter were not in plentiful supply, the lions would simply starve. Where you have 8 billion people and 1.6 billion cows, this relationship is inverted. Veganism affords an opportunity whereby anyone, rich or poor, old or young, can contribute to the relief of suffering in their fellow man. Schools should encourage the young people in their care to engage in active citizenship and to make a positive statement about their concern for their environment and for their fellow man, if they choose to do so. They are likely to enjoy only improved health and life expectancy and greater self-esteem as a result.
9. Finally, the demand for cheap meat has led to the growth of what is commonly known as factory farms, where profits are made only by abandoning any attempt at ensuring that animals in the food chain are guaranteed a tolerable existence. The report ‘Turning the Tables’ suggests that children should be encouraged to discover for themselves where their food comes from. I doubt, however, if any responsible parent or guardian would wish their child to visit Sun Valley poultry farm or similar unit, even were they permitted entry to the vast industrial sheds where thousands of debeaked chickens have been allocated a smaller space per bird than a piece of A4 paper. Here amidst the stench of ammonia and the wall of noise and the unrelenting industrial lighting, the chickens spend their entire wretched existence, never able to stretch their wings or glimpse daylight until the day they are slaughtered. This is of course only one example of the suffering of animals in the food chain.

In the light of these arguments in favour of vegan food which seem, to me at least, fairly persuasive, I am surprised that it apparently merits so little attention in the report I refer to. However, if this is because you and others believe that schoolchildren would refuse to eat vegan food, I can only say that no-one is able to eat and enjoy something they have never actually been offered. I can only reiterate that it is not only suitable for a tiny minority but for every school pupil.

Finally, I understand anecdotally that schools are obliged to provide vegetarian or vegan meals to those pupils who are members of religions which prohibit meat consumption, e.g. Seventh Day Adventists, Buddhists etc. but not to those who are vegetarian or vegan ‘merely’ on ethical grounds. The difference between religious and ethical grounds appears to me to be purely semantic but the fact that this distinction is made has potentially significant ramifications for pupils who are vegan. It follows that they could find themselves at the mercy of the willingness – or otherwise – of kitchen staff to cater for what the latter may regard as a passing phase, an affectation or a desire to draw attention to oneself, which should not at any cost be indulged. In the case of the pupil referred to in the first paragraph of my letter, she found, until the intervention of the headteacher, that there was frequently nothing suitable for her to eat at lunchtime. As the report ‘Turning the Tables’ points out on more than one occasion, children who like her receive free school meals are often more dependent upon their midday meal than other pupils but, in any event, no child should be deprived of food simply because he or she has a social conscience in conjunction with a parent on a low income. Perhaps you would be so kind as to clarify this issue. I should in addition be very interested in receiving a copy of the annex of ‘Healthy School Lunches guidance for caterers, if that is possible.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards.

Yours sincerely

Yvonne Cooper