The state of Illinois has passed a bill (HB 4089) in both houses, that requires a school district to provide a plant-based school lunch option to those students who submit a prior request to the school district. It now just awaits the governor’s signature.
“All students deserve the opportunity to have a well-rounded, nutritional meal at school that meets their dietary needs,” said sponsoring senator Dave Koehler, D-Peoria. “For some kids it may be the only substantial meal they get that day, and they need to be able to make the most of it.”
We’ve written before about the New York City school district requiring Meatless Mondays and now Vegan Fridays, championed by mayor Eric Adams. Some schools in the NYC district have gone even further by providing only vegetarian lunches every day of the week.
While we wish that school lunches were plant-based for all students, Illinois has taken a good first step, enabling those students who want to have a healthy and animal-free lunch to get one.
There are so many vegetarians, it’s hard to know who to include. We’ve picked a selection of those you may have heard of. Remember that the list of famous vegetarians is changing all the time, as more people decide to go veggie.
Historical & Well-Known Figures
Susan B Anthony
Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women
Susan B Anthony, helped get women the right to vote
Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross
General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
Bill Clinton, Former President of US
Charles Darwin, first proposed the theory of evolution
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo DaVinci, artist and scientist
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Chief Air Marshall Hugh Dowding, led the Battle of Britain to victory
Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light bulb
Albert Einstein, defined the theory of relativity
Ben Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, founding father of the United States
Mahatma Ghandi, Indian civil rights leader
Gustav Holst, classical composer
John Harvey Kellogg MD
Abraham Kook, first chief rabbi of Israel
Gustav Mahler, classical composer
Isaac Newton, famous for Newton’s laws in physics
Rosa Parks, civil rights activist
Plato, Greek philosopher
Pythagoras, Greek mathematician
Albert Schweitzer, physician, theologian
Coretta Scott King and Dexter Scott King, wife and son of Martin Luther King
Ellen G White
Socrates, Greek philosopher
Benjamin Spock MD
Robert Lewis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island
H.G. Wells, author of The Time Machine and War of the Worlds
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church
Ellen G White, founder of the Seventh Day Adventist Church
Present Day Musicians
Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul, American singer, choreographer, TV personality
Bryan Adams, Canadian singer
Andre Benjamin 3000, American rapper
Tom Higgenson, lead singer with Plain White T’s
Andy Hurley, drummer with Fall Out Boy
Anthony Kiedis, lead singer with Red Hot Chili Peppers
Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer
Leona Lewis, British singer
Paul McCartney
Travis Miguel, guitarist with Atreyu
Moby, American singer and instrumentalist
Jason Mraz, American singer/songwriter
Paul McCartney, lead singer of The Beatles
Prince, American singer/songwriter
Shania Twain, Canadian singer
Carrie Underwood, American singer
Present Day Actors/Entertainers
Penelope Cruz
Penelope Cruz, movies including “Nine”, “Vanilla Sky”
Ellen DeGeneres, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
Emily Deschanel, TV star of “Bones”
Cameron Diaz, movies including “My Best Friend’s Wedding”
Michael J Fox, movies including “Back to the Future”
Ginnifer Goodwin, movies including “He’s Just Not That Into You”
Tobey Maguire
Woody Harrelson, movies including “Zombieland”
Dustin Hoffman, movies including “Rainman”, “Hook”
Tobey Maguire, movies including “Spiderman”
Hayden Panettiere, TV star of “Heroes”
Natalie Portman, movies including “Star Wars”
Alicia Silverstone, movies including “Silence Becomes You”
Kristen Wiig, TV star of “Saturday Night Live”
Sports Stars
Carl Lewis
Hank Aaron, homerun record holder
Desmond Howard, Superbowl MVP
Scott Jurek, Ultra-Marathon Champion
Georges Laraque, National Hockey League
Carl Lewis, track and field winner of 9 Olympic gold medals
Bode Miller, World Cup alpine ski champion
Bill Pearl, Four Time Mr Universe
John Salley
John Salley, NBA champion player
Dave Scott, six-time triathlon winner
Ed Templeton, champion skateboarder
Jamie Thomas, champion skateboarder
Alexey Voyavoda, bobsleigh champion
Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins
See our postings about some more recent vegetarians.
