Velázquez Leads 23 Members in Calling on USDA to Facilitate Healthy, Climate Friendly Meals in Schools

Washington D.C.— Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) led twenty-three Members of Congress in sending a letter to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging the agency to work with schools to facilitate plant-forward menus featuring nutritious, climate-friendly, and culturally appropriate options.
 
“USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is uniquely positioned to advance equity and inclusion, while supporting climate and conservation goals in the final Child Nutrition Program meal patterns rule,” wrote the lawmakers. “Once finalized, we hope these revised meal patterns will facilitate plant-forward menus so that the Child Nutrition Programs better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, support the health and wellbeing of our children, and meet student and operator demand.”
 
The letter comes as USDA undergoes its most recent revisions to ensure that the Child Nutrition Program meal patterns align with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
 
In the letter, the lawmakers stress that providing increased access to plant-based and non-dairy milk options will:

1. Align with USDA’s mission “to serve all Americans,” and its vision to properly nourish our nation’s children, spur economic development, and preserve our environment.
2. Advance USDA’s core values of respect, dignity, equity, and inclusion; there are a range of cultural, ethnic, religious, and physiological needs for plant-based options. Most Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) are lactose intolerant, and BIPOC are three times as likely to follow a plant-based diet than white people.
3. Better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including by increasing intake of beans, peas, and lentils; nuts and seeds; and dietary fiber, and by diversifying protein intake.
4. Meet the demand from students – who are the ultimate beneficiaries of Child Nutrition Programs – for plant-based options, which has grown as the K-12 student population has become increasingly racially and culturally diverse as well as environmentally conscious and concerned for animal welfare.
5. Resolve Child Nutrition Program operators’ challenges in meeting this student demand, which are due in part to regulatory barriers in the current meal pattern regulations.
6. Support USDA’s climate and conservation goals; plant-rich diets are a highly effective way to reduce our impact on the climate because the production process results in less greenhouse gas emissions, requiring fewer land and water resources.

In addition to Congresswoman Velázquez, this letter was signed by Representatives Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Judy Chu (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Elanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Mark Takano (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-RI).
 
A PDF of the letter is online here.
 

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