A MHK has said there needs to be ’more balanced’ discussion around diets in schools.

In the House of Keys sitting last week, Ayre and Michael MHK Tim Johnston asked the education minister about balanced diets within schools and cited reports of individual teachers promoting vegan and vegetarian diets.

He said he had received correspondence that ’students of at least two high schools’ had been encouraged to ’go meat-free to save the planet’.

Julie Edge, Minister for Education, said: ’At present there is no DESC Department statutory or advisory curriculum for aspects of healthy eating and diet.

’However, schools will cover elements in their PSE lessons, science, design and technology on food and nutrition sections, and obviously, in PE, nutrition and exercise.’

Mr Johnston, former president of the Manx National Farmers Union, said after the sitting: ’I was concerned. I think it’s important there’s always a balanced debate in schools and I’m certainly not against it, I think what people choose to do as far as how they eat is absolutely up to them, but when these things are being discussed in schools they should be in an open debate and it’s not individual teachers putting their views forward.

’There’s a bigger debate about what we should be eating, obviously with a lot of information that’s come out from COP26 about that, but I think it’s also important that people are aware that we should value what we have in the island. For example, our farming system - it’s on average 40% below global averages when it comes to carbon output because we have a grass-based system.

’It’s making sure that that information is also in the mix for balance.’

The current government guidelines involve the ’eatwell plate’ which sets out the importance of a balanced diet.

Mr Johnston added: ’A high school in the island has its own farm that produces pork and we have primary school children that are encouraged to go out as much as possible to farms to understand what farming’s all about - our farming is livestock based in the island.

’We have to make sure we’re having that bigger and balanced debate, that’s what’s important.

’I very much welcome schools and pupils being engaged with debate and understanding where their food comes from, understanding what a vegetarian diet’s about, what a balanced diet’s about, but it’s making sure that happens in a proper school setting rather than individual teachers.’

When asked if he thinks a statute should be brought in, he said: ’No, I don’t think that would be the right way at all. I think the Eatwell Plate is government guidance, it’s not a statute and I think that’s right.

’This is not a criticism of the island particularly but I think there’s often a laziness in the debate when it comes to climate change about what’s good and what’s bad.

’I think it’s important that there’s a clear understanding and it’s interesting that over the last few decades we’ve seen huge increases in population, bigger increases in traffic flows, in air travel. Somehow cutting out meat is going to save us all, and that’s not necessarily the case.’