Spilled milk? European Parliament faces backlash on vote against plant-based alternatives in school meals

15 May 2023 --- The European Parliament has voted against including plant-based milk, such as almond milk, in the bloc’s Farm to School Scheme – part of the EU Green Deal – causing outcry among health and environmental campaigners, who accuse dairy industry stakeholders of “causing a significant blow” to European diets. 

Funded through the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP), the EU budget for the school scheme was set at $275,54 million (US$300 million) per school year from 2017-2023. The funding was distributed among member states according to the number of pupils and the degree of regional development but only reached 16 out of the EU’s 76 million students. 

An EP vote held last week weighed heavily in favor of the school scheme, which stipulates that fruit, vegetables and dairy products to be distributed in EU schools should be unprocessed, without added sugar, fat, salt or sweeteners, organic, produced locally and with quality indications.

According to Copa Cogeca the EU’s largest farmers association, equal funding for plant-based dairy would violate the requirement for local production. Romanian socialist MEP Carmen Avram told the European Conservative anyone believing the vote’s outcome signifies “protectionism” for dairy farmers is “disinformed” by “fake news.” 

However, a spokesperson from NGO ProVeg International tells FoodIngredientsFirst the vote’s result may be due to “existing misconceptions around plant-based milk alternatives – that they are not local to the EU, that they are processed products or that they do not contribute to the nutrition of kids.” 

“We have done extensive research in all these fields and we can confidently say that plant-based milk alternatives crops are grown in their majority in EU soil, that fortified unsweetened drinks are a perfect nutritious alternative to dairy and that they are processed foods, like most foods – that means, they need processing, as dairy does.” 

ProVeg says the vote is a missed opportunity to improve human, environmental and animal welfare standards in the EU.A missed opportunity? 
ProVeg emphasizes the EP vote is non-binding and that it is only an opinion the European Commission (EC) can choose to take on board. “We are hopeful that the EC will include plant-based drinks in their legislative proposal,” says the spokesperson.

ProVeg is calling upon the EC to bring about change and introduce unsweetened fortified plant-based alternatives to milk to the scheme. In addition, this inclusion will go in line with the objectives for the Farm to Fork Strategy and bring about coherence to the overall sustainability policies in the agri-food sector.”

While the vote against plant-based dairy inclusion includes an exemption for students with dietary issues requiring non-dairy alternatives, ProVeg asserts the scheme will prevent others from accessing nutritious alternatives that combat the climate crisis. 

“Not including fortified plant-based milk alternatives, such as unsweetened/low sugar plant-based drinks, would be a missed opportunity to provide a healthy and nutritious alternative to milk for those children who cannot or do not want to drink cow’s milk,” the spokesperson tells us. 

“In addition, this would be an excellent opportunity to teach kids about the sustainability of the food chain. Plant-based milk alternatives can help reduce the climate footprint of our diets, given their lower environmental impact.” 

Markets vs. “ideology” 
A report last year by the Food Climate Research Network demonstrated that most plant-based milk alternatives have a better environmental impact than their milk counterparts in terms of water use, ecotoxicity, nitrogen footprint, eutrophication, acidification potential and negative biodiversity impacts.

On these grounds, ProVeg says the scheme has “huge potential to become the EU public procurement tool for the inclusion of sustainable and environmentally friendly products for children across Europe.” 

“Including plant-based drinks into the scheme will boost EU efforts toward more sustainable diets, in alignment with the Food Systems Framework initiative.”

Moreover, the exemptions made for children with strict dietary requirements do not go far enough, says ProVeg. “Many children in the EU cannot or do not want to drink cow’s milk for medical, ethical, taste or environmental reasons.” 

“Including fortified plant-based milk alternatives is essential regarding inclusion, availability, sustainability and affordability. The spokesperson concludes that offering plant-based milk alternatives such as soy and pea drinks constitutes an “equally nutritious counterpart to dairy products and is crucial for kids’ inclusion at schools.”

By Louis Gore-Langton