From Lunch to Lessons: The Case for Promoting Plant-Based Diets in Schools
Christina Easton (Warwick University) and Andrew Walton (Newcastle University)

In this talk we shall defend the view that schools ought to guide student behaviour and beliefs towards plant-based diets. We begin by making the case that climate change and animal welfare concerns provide individuals with strong moral reasons to adopt such diets. We then consider whether and how it is appropriate for schools to promote plant-based diets based on these arguments. We build on the role schools have in educating children about justice and argue this must include the interests of animals. We show the implications for both catering and curriculum policies – what food schools procure and what they teach.

Christina Easton is Assistant Professor in the Ethics of Non-Violence at the University of Birmingham. She is primarily a moral and political philosopher, with a particular interest in education policy and curricula. She is the author of Teaching Values Whilst Respecting Difference (2026, Bloomsbury) and co-editor of The Future of Education: Reimaging it Aims and Responsibilities (2025, Oxford University Press). Andrew Waltonis Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Newcastle University. He works primarily on issues of social justice and the nexus between political philosophy and public policies.

Andrew Walton is Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Newcastle University. He works primarily on issues of social justice and the nexus between political philosophy and public policies.

For further inquiries: Yuxin Su (yuxin.su.16@ucl.ac.uk).