Veganism is a conviction protected by the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Constitution of Finland (731/1999).
The organizers of early childhood education, primary and lower secondary education, as well as upper secondary education, are obligated to provide a free meal to all pupils. The Finnish Vegan Association believes that those following a vegan diet on ethical grounds should have a right to food that aligns with their conviction in schools and kindergartens.
Finnish educational institutions’ obligation to offer a free meal
According to the Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education (628/1998, §31, paragraph 2), all pupils participating in teaching must be provided with an appropriately organized and directed, nutritionally complete, free meal on each school day. Likewise, according to the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care (540/2018, §11, paragraph 1), a child in early education must be provided with healthy, essential nutrition that fulfills the child’s nutritional needs, unless the education is given in a context other than a kindergarten or family day care.
A free meal must also be provided to students in upper secondary education. According to the Act on General Upper Secondary Education (714/2018, §35), in upper secondary education that is aimed at adolescents, students have a right to a free meal on those school days on which the curriculum requires the student’s attendance in a place of education indicated by the educational institution. According to the Act on Vocational Education and Training (531/2017, §100, paragraph 1), in full-time basic education and pre-training, students have the right to a free meal on those days during which the student’s Personal Development Plan requires their attendance in a place of education indicated by the educational institution.
According to the Finnish National Nutritional Recommendation, a properly implemented vegan diet is suitable for everyone, including those who are pregnant or breast-feeding as well as children and adolescents. The publication Eating together – food recommendations for families with children includes a plate model for those following a vegan diet. Helsinki Administrative Court has also stated in a ruling on 28 August 2019 (00295/18/1301) that a vegan meal fits the legal definition of a nutritionally complete meal. In the ruling, Helsinki Administrative Court states that, according to a strong general rule stemming from legislation, an educational institution can be deemed to have an obligation to adhere to a student’s special diet when said diet is necessitated by the student’s health or personal conviction. A vegan diet can be considered an established and generally well-known diet that is based on an ethical conviction. The Administrative Court has specifically stated that a lacto-ovo-vegetarian meal cannot be used as a replacement for a vegan meal when it is based on an ethical conviction.
Educational institutions must consider the best interests of children
Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that in all activities of public and private social welfare services, courts, administrative authorities or legislatures that concern children, the best interests of children must be prioritized.
In the Finnish Vegan Society’s view, it is in the best interests of a child or adolescent following a vegan diet that their educational institution provides them with food that is in line with their ethical conviction.
Is not offering vegan food discrimination?
According to the Constitution of Finland, §6, paragraph 2, no one shall, without an acceptable reason, be treated differently from other persons on grounds related to the person. According to the Non-discrimination Act (1325/2014, §8), no one may be discriminated against based on religion, belief or opinion. Non-discrimination requires that those following a vegan diet are not put into an inferior position based on their conviction. In §5 of the Non-discrimination Act, public authorities are also given an obligation to further equality in their activities. According to §6 of the Non-discrimination Act, an education provider and the educational institution maintained by it must evaluate the realization of equality in their activities and take necessary measures to promote the realization of equality.
The National Non-discrimination and Equality Tribunal of Finland has made a ruling on four prior cases concerning the serving of vegan meals in schools and kindergartens. The rulings have concerned demanding an additional payment for vegan food (291/2017) as well as not serving vegan food (317/2017).
In the most recent rulings, it has been held that the judicially significant matter is whether a child’s vegan diet is based on a conviction. In its rulings (607/2018 and 614/2018), the Tribunal has held that not serving vegan food to a vegan child effectively places the child in a disadvantageous position relative to others based on their conviction. Under these circumstances, there arises, depending on the situation, a presumption of either direct or indirect discrimination. To disprove this, the party responsible for serving meals in the school or kindergarten must be able to show that not serving vegan food is based on an acceptable reason intended by the law. Establishing direct discrimination requires a comparable situation. The Tribunal has held that in a comparable situation with vegan children are those children who are served food based on their conviction or religion. When a municipality offers food to other children based on their conviction or religion, not serving a vegan meal constitutes direct discrimination.
Even in cases where the municipality does not offer special meals to anyone based on religion or conviction, the municipality must still be able to prove that not serving vegan food to a vegan child does not constitute indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination can occur when an ostensibly neutral and universally applicable policy nevertheless in practice puts vegan children into a disadvantageous situation compared to others. If the municipality can show that not serving food based on a religion or conviction is based on an acceptable reason intended by the law, it is deemed that indirect discrimination has not taken place.
The future of serving vegan food in schools and kindergartens
According to the publication Eating and learning together – recommendations for school meals by The National Nutrition Council of Finland and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the serving of vegan food depends on the policy set by each education provider. The Finnish Vegan Association urges education providers to expand their offering of vegan food.
Promoting a plant-based diet is crucially tied to the goals of sustainable development. In the national curriculum for primary and lower secondary education, it is suggested that the role of the school in building a sustainable future should be strengthened. Providing the option to choose a vegan meal at school is in line with the goals of sustainable development.
The Finnish Vegan Association believes that introducing vegan food as a daily meal option would remove the need to prepare several different meal options for vegetarians, vegans, religion-based diets, lactose-intolerant pupils as well as those allergic to dairy or eggs. Fulfilling the needs of all these different diet groups with a single meal option would not only bring savings to the municipal meal services but also lighten the administrative workload resulting from managing different special diets.
What to do if you are facing discrimination
The Finnish Vegan Association provides advice to our members in matters relating to school and kindergarten meals. You can email oikeusasiat@vegaaniliitto.fi.
The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman’s office provides advice by phone when you suspect discrimination. The matter can be brought to The National Non-discrimination and Equality Tribunal for adjudication.