The Lisbon Chamber retreated this Monday in the decision to remove vegetarian mealss as a specific option in public schools, indicating that it “has no effect” and that other policies will be implemented to reduce food waste.
At issue is a communication released on Wednesday for the Department of Education of Lisbon City Council on the SIGA platform — which speeds up contact with guardians — informing about the procedures for students to access a vegetarian diet in public school cafeterias, revealing that, from January 1, 2026, the vegetarian option would no longer be visible on the booking panel, as it would no longer be made available on a punctual or occasional basis and would start to be “reserved exclusively for cases in which the vegetarian regime is assumed on an ongoing basis and structured”.
Five days after this communication, which led to the emergence of a petition for the continuation of free booking of vegetarian meals in public schools in Lisbon, which has, as of 5:30 pm today, more than 3800 signatures, the councilor for Education, Sofia Athayde (CDS-PP)made it known that it had determined to the services that this decision “becomes null and void and the changes communicated must be re-evaluatedand better solutions were studied to make families’ food choices compatible with their students, with new and reinforced effective policies to reduce food waste”.
Before this retreat, the environmental organization WWF Portugal he stated “great concern” regarding the Lisbon City Council’s decision to remove vegetarian meals as a specific option in public schools, warning of a “setback” in school food policy.
“By assuming that non-vegetarian children should consume protein of animal origin every day, the City Council does not take into account the scientific evidence that demonstrates the impact that diets have on health and the planet. Food systems are responsible for around 30% of CO2 emissions [dióxido de carbono] in Portugal and have a significant water footprint, especially in the case of beef”, warned the environmental organization, in a statement.
On Thursday, in response to the Lusa agency, the Education councilor’s office said that “it is not true that the free choice of vegetarian meals will end”, explaining that what is at stake “is not a change, but a clarification of rules that already existed” so that “food waste will be greatly reduced caused by the unpredictability of the number of meals to be prepared each day”.
In the petition for the continuation of the free booking of vegetarian meals, education officials argued that the municipality’s decision to limit this option “is unacceptable and represents a setback in sustainability policies, freedom of choice and food education”.
“Limiting access to vegetarian meals only to those who ‘formally assume a permanent regime’ is a way of food discriminationcontrary to the spirit of the law n.º November 2017what visa precisely guarantee the right to a vegetarian option in public canteens, without impositions or administrative barriers”, reads the public petition.
Demanding that the Lisbon City Council revoke the decision to eliminate the vegetarian option from the appointment panel, the petitioners also mention that many guardians and students choose vegetarian meals for health, environmental, ethical or personal preference reasons.
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