Milk is subsidised in UK schools. But while they are allowed to serve plant-based alternatives if calcium-enriched, they cannot be subsidised under the current rules.
WILLIAM COLE: Plant-Based Health Professionals UK, which advocates a move to a vegan diet for every age group, say that access to fruits and vegetables is more beneficial than cattle by-products. About 1.5 million children receive free or subsidised cow’s milk through official schemes, costing about £3 million a year in England. ‘Free’ school milk is subsidised for children aged over five, and free for children from low-income families.
But while schools are allowed to serve plant-based alternatives if they are calcium-enriched, they cannot be subsidised under the current rules. ‘The only reason dairy is so cheap is because it gets subsidised,’ Dr Shireen Kassam, founder of Plant Based Health Professionals UK, told The Times. ‘The wrong foods are being subsidised. We need to subsidise fruits, vegetables and legumes.’
He was joined by calls from the Vegan Society for vegan parents to be supported to raise their children ‘in line with their beliefs in the same way you’d expect any parent to be supported’. There are also concerns that the current scheme unfairly disadvantages children with conditions brought on by drinking milk products. In the UK, 22 per cent of white adults are lactose intolerant, and the likelihood of having the condition is higher in those from Asian or African-Caribbean backgrounds…
Dr Kassam criticised a £1 million campaign by Dairy UK called ‘Milk Your Moments’ which focused on ‘driving dairy occasions’ and ‘moments of connection’ during the pandemic… A government spokesman said: ‘The School Food Standards require lower fat or lactose-reduced milk to be available in schools to children who want it during school hours. SOURCE…
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