New Poll: Most Americans Think Plant-Based Meals and Nondairy Milk Alternatives Should Be Available in Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C.—This National School Lunch Week, Oct. 13-17, a new Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/Morning Consult poll finds that 67% of U.S. adults think that students should have access to plant-based meals and nondairy beverages, such as soy milk, in schools. The poll, which was conducted Oct. 4-6, 2025, among 2,203 U.S. adults, found that young adults were most likely to agree.

“As schools across the nation celebrate National School Lunch Week, we need to raise awareness that most Americans think that school lunch lines should include healthier options including plant-based meals and nondairy milk alternatives that can help keep students healthy,” says Stephanie McBurnett, RDN, a nutrition educator for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and a parent to school-age children. “Serving plant-based meals, which are higher in fiber and lower in fat than typical school lunches, can help students fight obesity, type 2 diabetes, and even early signs of heart disease and set them up for a lifetime of good health. It also introduces children to healthier meals that they might not be seeing at home.”

In a case study the Physicians Committee conducted at a K-8 school in Washington, D.C., plant-based meals contained triple the amount of fiber found in standard school lunch entrees. The plant-based entrees also had less fat and saturated fat, zero cholesterol (compared with an average of 54 milligrams in the standard entrees), and more iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C.

Several of the recipes in the case study featured beans, including Powered Up Pasta and Veg Out Chili. Late last year, the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended that the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans—which will be released this year and inform federal food programs including the National School Lunch Program—emphasize “beans, peas, and lentils while reducing intakes of red and processed meats.”

School meals can play an important role in helping to fight childhood obesity, which affects approximately 20% of children and adolescents in the United States—about 14.7 million youths—and increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, as well as anxiety and depression.

Obese children now show evidence of significant heart disease beginning as young as age 8. And half of U.S. children and adolescents do not have ideal cholesterol levels, with 25% in the clinically high range. Limiting saturated fat has been shown to significantly lower LDL “bad” cholesterol and blood pressure in children and adolescents.

Research shows that adolescents consuming predominantly vegetarian foods had significantly better scores on markers of cardiovascular health, including body mass index, waist circumference, and cholesterol levels. A Cleveland Clinic study also found that a low-fat, vegan diet lowered the risk of heart disease in obese children by improving their weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

The Physicians Committee supports policy efforts to expand access to plant-based school meals, including The Healthy Future Students and Earth Pilot Program Act, introduced in the 118th Congress by Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.). This bill would provide resources to schools to provide healthy plant-based meals and would expand access to nondairy milk in U.S. schools.

Under current federal law, students are only guaranteed a substitute for cow’s milk—such as fortified soy milk—if a parent submits a physician’s note documenting a disability, and schools are prohibited from proactively offering soy milk on the lunch line. This red tape places an unnecessary burden on families and disproportionately impacts communities of color, in which rates of lactose intolerance are highest.

The Physicians Committee/Morning Consult poll found that most people are largely unaware of the prevalence of lactose intolerance in the United States. Just 13% correctly estimated that 30 to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant, including 95% of Asian Americans, 60 to 80% of African Americans and Ashkenazi Jews, 80 to 100% of American Indians, and 50 to 80% of Hispanics.

Soy milk serves as a safe and nutritious option for children with lactose intolerance, dairy allergies, or digestive sensitivities. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other major health organizations recognize fortified soy milk as a nutritionally equivalent alternative to dairy, further reinforcing its role as a viable, evidence-based option.

The Physicians Committee’s Healthy School Food campaign, HealthySchoolLunches.org, provides free resources for schools and parents, including meat- and dairy-free recipes that meet the USDA’s National School Lunch Program requirements, tips for removing processed meats such as deli meat and hot dogs from school lunches, and webinars for school food service professionals.