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Primary school children across Leeds will soon be eating an entirely new menu, including vegetarian and vegan dishes, in a move that aims to make the city more environmentally friendly.

Leeds City Council has announced a raft of new schemes as part of a £200 million commitment to halve its carbon footprint by 2025.

It will see the local authority switch to 100 per cent renewable energy, solar panels installed on council houses and a shake-up to the menu at up to 182 primary schools.

The changes, which are due to be finalised in the coming months, will see some meat-based meals ditched.

What is on the menu?

The proposed new menu includes one non-meat day and one vegetarian day each week, with the option of more vegan dishes for those who want them.

Extra fruit and vegetables will be available too, including raw vegetable sticks.

"Leeds pupils are taste-testing new environmentally-friendly school dinner menus in a project led by Catering Leeds," says a council report.

"The aim is to reduce the city’s carbon footprint, and ensure that pupils enjoy even healthier meals with extra vegetable content."

All 182 primary schools that fall under Catering Leeds Children's remit will be asked whether they want to sign up to the new menus.

Is eating meat bad for the environment? A vegetarian diet can use up to 2.5 times less carbon emissions than a meat diet - and this is due to a number of factors. Livestock contribute to around 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Another factor to consider is water consumption. Far more water is needed to rear a chicken, for instance, than many other plant alternatives. There are secondary knock-on issues to consider, too. Large areas of forests are either cut down or burned every single day to make room for cattle farms, pasture and animal feed.

The decision comes following an extensive process to find out what children would like to eat. 95 per cent of youngsters queried about the changes said that they would not object to having one meat-free day a week.

Initiatives on the benefits of recycling and how to tackle food waste will also be taught in schools across Leeds to help children understand how they can make small changes at home.

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