Bringing Vegan Food to LA Unified School District

Lila Copeland, a 14-year old who is about to start high school next year, wants LA Unified School District to provide healthy vegan food options to kids.  I was honored when Lila, the founder of Earth Peace Foundation, invited me to join her and others to speak to the school board.

We waited a couple hours, as we were literally the last agenda item for the meeting.  But, when your group is led into a room with Pamela Anderson, you get attention.

You'll see me at four minutes into this video.

I had the opportunity to make my case for offering healthy vegan options to children.  I made the point that the majority of the diseases that I treat are prevented by a healthy lifestyle, including good food choices.  Healthy habits start in childhood, so a school providing vegan food options can help children live longer and healthier.

Other speakers included Dr. Michael Klaper, journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell, bodybuilder Torre Washington, author Kawani Brown, nutritionist Sharon Palmer, and nutrition educator Lisa Karlan.

As the last speakers of a day-long meeting, we had an uphill battle ahead of us to get the attention of the school board.  I think we got our point across.  One of the board members at the end remarked that his own diet wasn't very good, but we certainly gave him some things to think about and maybe even he could change how he eats.  I am hopeful for Lila's Healthy Freedom campaign to provide healthy vegan lunch options to LAUSD's students.