England’s school meals are about to get a little less obsessed with animal protein. From September 2027, subject to parliamentary approval, primary schools in England will have to include pulses alongside all main menu options at least once a week. Secondary schools get a slower transition, with pulses required once every two weeks during 2027/28 before the full requirement arrives in September 2028.
This should not be revolutionary. Beans contain protein. Lentils contain protein. Chickpeas contain protein. But we have somehow built a food culture where animal products are treated as the serious sources of protein and plants are the alternative.
The new School Food Standards at least begin pushing against that idea. The rules will retain the requirement for a portion of meat, poultry or pulses on three or more days each week, while at least one vegetarian main option must contain pulses on three days. Baked beans are also being added to the protein food group. And the government’s own consultation response gives the reasons. Respondents highlighted pulses as sources of protein, fibre and micronutrients, alongside their lower environmental impact compared with meat. The Department for Education says the changes are intended to support a wider range of protein sources and increase the use of pulses.
We recently looked at the same mythology from another angle in Tofu Is Better Protein Than Beef. Researchers comparing 20 high-protein foods across health and environmental measures found that every food in the top 20% was plant-based, including tofu and beans.
The changes go beyond pulses.
Deep-fried food will no longer be permitted. Cheese, which has a habit of becoming the default vegetarian option whenever anyone runs out of imagination, will generally be limited to two portions a week as a main ingredient. Fortified pea drinks will join permitted soya and oat drinks, while houmous and suitable plant-based yoghurts will be allowed as snacks.
Of the 5,216 responses to the consultation, 2,273 came through a Plant-Based Schools campaign calling for greater access to plant-rich meals. The government explicitly says plant-based options have subsequently been incorporated throughout the revised standards.
None of this creates vegan schools.
Children will still be served animals. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy remain embedded throughout the standards. This is a nutritional reform, not an animal-rights policy. But school meals do more than fill a tray. They teach children what ordinary food looks like.
We have already seen polling showing support for plant-based school meals in the USA, while research suggests the food environments surrounding people can make reducing animal products easier or harder. If children routinely eat beans, lentils and chickpeas at school, those foods stop being the strange alternative. They become lunch.