Nursery World - Eating well – planning vegetarian meals

The importance of carefully planned vegetarian meals, by Harman Mohal, Early Years Nutrition Partnership-registered nutrition professional.

The importance of carefully planned vegetarian meals, by Harman Mohal, Early Years Nutrition Partnership-registered nutrition professional

In recent years, the demand for vegetarian meals has increased significantly, a trend that is growing across all age groups and for a variety of reasons.

If a family follows a vegetarian diet at home, it is understandable that their children attending a setting would do the same. However, for practitioners, planning around such requirements can be tricky as there are many variations of plant-based or vegetarian diets. For example, if a child follows a vegan diet, they do not eat any animal products, including dairy, eggs and honey. On the other hand, they may be following a semi-vegetarian or plant-based diet, eating lesser amounts of unprocessed meat, seafood, poultry, eggs and dairy. Other variations include ovo-vegetarian (vegan + eggs), lacto-vegetarian (vegan + yogurt, cheese and milk), lacto-ovo-vegetarian, and pescatarian.

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