Access to plant-based foods is becoming less impossible! Earlier this year, Impossible Foods took major strides in improving the affordability of their products by cutting down the suggested retail price by nearly 20% in grocery stores. To stay persistent on their mission to improve accessibility to climate-friendly food options, Impossible Foods has secured a Child Nutrition (CN) label from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). As a result, their products can be served in K-12 schools nationwide! Impossible Foods views this as an opportunity to ensure that school students receive optimum nutrition while making better choices for the animals and the planet.
This month, Impossible Foods is kicking off a pilot program that will run through the rest of the academic year at school districts nationwide. The company will donate cases of its plant-based meat products and the students can expect to feast on plant-powered versions of cafeteria staples like Frito Pies, Street Tacos, and Spaghetti Bolognese! A student feedback survey will assess the success of the program upon completion. Impossible Foods envisions expanding the program to schools nationwide this coming school year. Through this initiative, the billions of breakfasts and lunches that are ladened with animal products will substantially decrease!
Impossible Foods hired a third-party research firm to conduct a survey titled “Kids Rule” over the spring. In this study, 1,200 children between the ages 5-18 were surveyed about their attitudes toward climate change, knowledge about impacts of food choices on the environment, and willingness to make environment-friendly changes. Results revealed that 80 percent of the children surveyed were aware of climate change and that awareness increased with age. A stark 9 out of 10 children responded that it was important for them to take action against climate change and 73 percent of them believed they had the power to make a difference.
On the contrary, when asked about the connection between food choices and the planet, the children ranked raising animals for meat and dairy as the smallest contributor to climate change. After they were presented with educational materials about the contribution of animal agriculture to climate change, 63 percent of them said they were “somewhat” to “much more likely” to eat less meat. Along with other findings from the survey, it appears that providing Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat replacement would be a fruitful opportunity to educate the next generation of changemakers about the importance of food choices for the planet.
Founder and CEO of Impossible Foods- Pat Brown, is cognizant of the important roles that schools play in educating children about healthy food choices that don’t harm our environment. “Making Impossible products available everywhere people consume meat, which for kids often includes schools, is key to the mission of the company,” he says.
Impossible Foods states in its report- “Our research shows that kids care about climate change, and they want to do something about it. But they’re still far more likely to take actions like recycling or limiting food waste than they are to stop eating meat, even when they’re educated about climate change contributors.” They add- “That’s why it’s so important to give them an easy solution that they resonate with. The Impossible Burger taps into two key needs for kids: the desire to eat something tasty, and the urge to feel like they are making a difference—in this case, saving the world.”
