Hello- My name is Eshaan Jain and I am a freshman at MHS. While I am super excited about the extraordinary choices MHS offers its students academically and in sports, I am quite appalled to find that the MHS Cafeteria’s current Lunch menu offers a vegetarian option on less than 5% of days and almost no vegan options. There is cheese pizza (not desirable) and a salad bar available daily but 95% of all other options on the daily menu are non-vegetarian.

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans provided by CDC emphasizes the importance of an overall healthy eating pattern with five groups as key building blocks, plus oils. As the MyPlate icon based on Harvard School of Public Health’s recommended diet shows, the five food groups are Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains, Healthy Proteins, and Water or healthy beverages (with dairy limited to 1-2 servings per day). Each food group includes a variety of foods that are similar in nutritional makeup, and each group plays an important role in an overall healthy eating pattern. 

Moreover, a plant based diet is better for the overall health of our environment.  A report from the United Nations Environment Programme says that “animal products, both meat and dairy, in general require more resources and cause higher emissions than plant-based alternatives.” A global shift to a plant-based diet could reduce mortality and greenhouse gases caused by food production by 10% and 70%, respectively, 

Therefore, I am petitioning that MHS Cafeteria offer a vegetarian/vegan choice every day on its menu and provide a more nutritious and wholesome meal option for all students. Besides serving the large student body which adheres to a vegetarian/vegan diet, this change would also positively affect the overall student population’s health in these very formative and critical developmental high school years and make a positive impact on our environment.