Impossible Burgers are coming to US schools
The company secured Child Nutrition Labels for its products.
Impossible Foods has secured Child Nutrition Labels for its Impossible Burger products, which means they can now be part of school nutrition programs in the US. To obtain the CN Labels, USDA's Food and Nutrition Services had to evaluate the plant-based meat's product formulation, as well as the company's quality control procedures and manufacturing processes.
Now that it has acquired CN Labels for its products, the company is launching K-12 pilot programs this month in partnership with several school districts. The Palo Alto Unified School District in California, the Aberdeen School District in Washington, the Deer Creek Public Schools in Edmond, Oklahoma and the Union City Public Schools in Union City, Oklahoma will be using Impossible's faux meat in a variety of dishes for their menu. Those dishes include tacos, frito pies and spaghetti with Impossible meat sauce. Other school districts can easily obtain Impossible products from suppliers to add them to their menus, as well.
Pat Brown, CEO and Founder of Impossible Foods, said in a statement:
"Making Impossible products available everywhere people consume meat, which for kids often includes schools, is key to the mission of the company. Schools not only play a role in shaping children’s dietary patterns, they play an important role in providing early education about climate change and its root causes. We are thrilled to be partnering with K-12 school districts across the country to lower barriers to access our plant-based meat for this change-making generation."
This is the latest step the company has taken to expand its presence and drum up interest for its plant-based meat. Over the past year, Impossible started selling its products in 1,700 Kroger-affiliated stores, 2,000 Walmart stores and 1,200 Publix stores across the US. By making its faux meat available in school meals, the company is hoping to win young people over, especially since they have a lot of influence over family meal decisions.
"Kids provide an enormous and largely unexplored opportunity for environmental progress," said Jessica Appelgren, the Vice President of Communications at Impossible Foods. "They care about climate change and they want to do something about it, and data shows that they have a significant influence over family meal decisions. Our CN Label launch is just the beginning of Impossible Foods engaging this next crucial generation."
