70 BILLION land animals are killed, 7.1 GIGATONS of greenhouse gasses are emitted and MILLIONS of people die from health issues, every year because of the meat and dairy industry! 

We have the power to change that by defunding these industries on an institutional level.

Why sign this petition? By signing this petition, you are helping us convince school boards (starting in Ontario’s DPCDSB and PDSB)  to reallocate some funding towards cruelty-free, nutritious, plant-based meal options in hundreds of high schools. It will also help with our campaign for plant-based education in curriculums. 

Plant-based meals are foods that do not harm any animals, have a lower carbon footprint and are much healthier. Just one person living with a plant-based diet can save around 400 animals, reduce 3320 kg of CO2 and 1,523,841 litres of water in just 1 year! Imagine the impact we can make by changing these institutions. 

This change will support the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, with the aim of stopping animal cruelty, combatting climate change, improving global health, reducing water waste and more! 

 

Why plant-based meals?

1. It's better for the environment

The meat industry is one of the leading contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, (which causes climate change). As they produce 7.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) yearly , they also cut down thousands of acres of trees which are the very things that can remove these ghg from the air. These industries cause 80% of deforestation globally, including in the Amazon Rainforests. 

Plant-based meals generate 41.7% less greenhouse gasses and a minimal environmental footprint in comparison to eating meat. 

2. It's healthier

Meat is the second biggest carcinogen (a substance causing cancer) in the world after smoking! Meat also causes a variety of fatal diseases and conditions. The truth is: we do not actually need meat or dairy to survive as long as we are on top of our vitamins and minerals intake. 

A plant-based diet has been shown to lower the risk of these many chronic diseases, such as obesity, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, as well as colon, breast, prostate, stomach, lung and esophagus cancers. Studies also show vegans live longer, have higher energy and improved cognitive function

3. It is more ethical (saving billions of animals)

Billions of innocent animals are unnecessarily tortured and slaughtered for food every year! The meat industry mass breeds animals, puts them in cages where they catch diseases and neurological conditions and then they are eventually murdered tfor our taste buds .In the dairy industry, female cows are tortured, caged and impregnated over and over again until they collapse, while their children are taken away for exploitation. Male cows are fattened up in horrible living conditions until their throats are slit so they bleed to death. All animals no matter if they are free-range or not, are still being tortured and killed. No murder can be humane.

Plant-based foods ensure there is no unnecessary suffering and killing of innocent animals. A person eating a plant-based diet can save up to 400 animals a year!

4. It conserves water

Millions of people globally do not have access to clean water, yet billions of gallons of water are wasted by the meat and dairy industries. It takes an equivalent of 66.7 pounds of water to produce just one pound of meat! Raising livestock also produces a lot of animal waste which is a primary polluter in water bodies. 

Plant-based meals, however, generate 100-200 times less water waste in comparison to meat.

5. It is more effective to fight against World Hunger

Meat production is an expensive and inefficient use of food resources. It's estimated that about 700 million tons of food that could be consumed by humans goes towards feeding livestock every year. It takes 11 pounds of crops (i.e. corn or soy) to produce just one pound of meat!

Studies have shown that if more farmland was used to grow crops for humans it could help solve the world hunger crisis.  In fact, the grain required to feed livestock in America for one day is enough to provide every person on earth with two loaves of bread.

 

Our Plan:

Youth Social Impact is aiming to first convince Trustees within the Peel District School Board and Dufferin Peel Catholic School Boards to implement more plant-based meals in cafeterias to help with the UN SDGs. We want them to promote vegan options, educate students about veganism and ensure there is a wide variety of vegan foods that students can choose from.  Alongside this petition, we will share insights from our expert panel talk and interviews, a compilation of research from online studies, vegan recipe substitutions from nutritionists/vegan chefs as well as a financial and implementation breakdown at our school board meeting. The expert voices we will be having will range from nutritionists, doctors and vegan athletes to animal rights activists, professors and environmental scientists. 

We hope to eventually expand to more school boards and institutions as well as add plant-based nutrition in health class curriculums.  

 

Who are we?

Youth Social Impact is a charitable organization leading youth across the world in fundraising, campaigning and spreading awareness on global issues and injustices. We partner with various charities, influencers and small businesses to organize new events and impactful initiatives that help with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We are currently partnering with Food For Life Global, a charity that provides millions of plant-based meals to people across the globe suffering from starvation. Our focus is on solving animal cruelty, climate change and world hunger through promoting plant-based living. 

 

 

We hereby ask the Ministry of Education to revise the meal plans in schools to include more vegan and cruelty-free options. You have the power to make institutional change that can leave a lasting impact on Ontario students’ wellbeing, farmed animals’ wellbeing and the Earth’s wellbeing!