A communication released on Wednesday by the Lisbon City Council’s Department of Education on the SIGA platform, which facilitates contact with parents, outlined the procedures for students accessing vegetarian meals in public school cafeterias. This announcement revealed that starting January 1, 2026, the vegetarian option would no longer be visible on the reservation panel as it would be “reserved exclusively for those who follow a continuous and structured vegetarian diet.”
Five days after this announcement, which prompted a petition for the continuation of freely selecting vegetarian meals in Lisbon’s public schools, gathering over 3,800 signatures by 5:30 PM today, the Education Councilor, Sofia Athayde, declared that she instructed services to overturn the decision. She emphasized the need to reassess the communicated changes and explore better solutions to match families’ dietary choices with new and strengthened policies for reducing food waste.
Prior to this reversal, the environmental organization WWF Portugal expressed “great concern” about the Lisbon City Council’s decision to remove vegetarian meals as an occasional option in public schools, warning of a “step back” in school food policy.
“By assuming that non-vegetarian children should consume animal protein daily, the City Council overlooks scientific evidence demonstrating the impact diets have on health and the planet. Food systems are responsible for about 30% of CO2 emissions in Portugal and have a significant water footprint, especially in the case of beef,” the environmental organization warned in a statement.
On Thursday, in response to Lusa news agency, the Education Councilor’s office, Sofia Athayde (CDS-PP), stated that “it is not true that the free choice of vegetarian meals will end.” It explained that the issue is “not a change, but a clarification of existing rules” aimed at “significantly reducing food waste caused by the unpredictability in the number of meals to be prepared each day.”
In the petition for the continuation of free selection of vegetarian meals, parents argued that the council’s decision to limit this option “is unacceptable and represents a step back in sustainability policies, freedom of choice, and food education.”
“Limiting access to vegetarian meals only to those who ‘formally commit to a permanent regime’ is a form of food discrimination, contrary to the spirit of law No. 11/2017, which seeks to ensure the right to a vegetarian option in public cafeterias without impositions or administrative barriers,” reads the public petition.
Urging the Lisbon City Council to reverse the decision to remove the vegetarian option from the reservation panel, the petitioners also mention that many parents and students choose vegetarian meals for health, environmental, ethical, or personal preference reasons.
