Vegan Society’s Education Chair nominated for prestigious award

The Chair of The Vegan Society’s Vegan Education Network and founder of Primary Veducation has been nominated in The All Party Parliamentary Group Excellence in School Food Awards.

Laura Chepner, who joined the charity late last year, has been recognised for her work encouraging parents to ask for plant-based options and for assisting schools in making that transition.

The APPG awards recognise excellence in innovation and individual commitment, providing an opportunity for those working within school food a chance to ‘step forward and shine’. In total, 2 of the 8 finalists this year are plant-based initiatives. Laura is nominated in the Individuals category alongside Dugald C, CEO of SchoolGrid, and Jeanette Orrey of School Food Plan Alliance.

After her own vegan child experienced discrimination at school, former teacher Laura founded Primary Veducation – hosting training sessions for school staff – and wrote ‘An Educator’s Guide for Vegan-Inclusive Teaching’. Laura was also responsible for getting her local council in Bury to become the first UK Council to have a rolling vegan menu in their schools.

Reacting to the news Laura Chepner said: “I am so honoured to be nominated for a School Food Award. I am extremely passionate about working with educators to explain what it means to be vegan and how to appropriately teach and treat vegan pupils. I know first-hand what it’s like to be the parent of a vegan child and worry that their needs are not being met at school. Everything I do is to help other parents experiencing the same difficulties and so to be recognised for my work is just wonderful. I can’t wait to attend the awards ceremony and meet all the other brilliant nominees.”

Speaking ahead of the awards, judge Sharon Hodgson MP said, “Alongside Kerry McCarthy MP and Christian Wakeford, I really enjoyed judging this year’s fantastic nominations for the APPG Excellence in School Food Awards – well done to all submissions. After what has been a challenging few years for the school food industry it was fantastic to see such impressive submissions, also making it incredibly hard to select finalists. I am looking forward to the APSE Facilities Management Seminar in March, and congratulations to all finalists!”

The winners will be announced at the Awards presentation evening, held at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel on Thursday 3 March 2022.

The awards dinner forms part of the APSE Facilities, Catering and Cleaning Management Seminar and further details of the seminar can be found online. You can also read more about the Vegan Education Network here.