The Perthshire Farmer Leading the Fight Against Ultra-Processed School Meals

When Lauren Houstoun picked up the phone one April morning, the last thing she was expecting to hear was that her son had no lunch.

The call from Alasdair's school came at 12 o'clock with an unprecedented problem – there was no meal for him because every single option on that day's menu contained ultra-processed meat substitutes, something the family had explicitly asked that their children not be fed.

For a family that had always found something suitable on previous menus, this complete absence of choice came as a shock. Lauren was thoroughly vexed by the situation, but it was the following week when the same thing happened to her daughter Ellen that she knew something had to be done.

Those phone calls sparked a petition that has now captured national attention and exposed a troubling agenda hidden within Scotland's school meal system.

Lauren and her husband Andrew run Glenkilrie Larder, a family business on their 2,500-acre hill farm in Highland Perthshire, where they rear Aberdeen Angus cattle, sheep, and red deer. The very quality meat missing from their children's plates is what they produce daily – nutrient-dense, locally-sourced protein that can form an important part of healthy diets.

The Awakening of an Unlikely Activist

For fifteen years, Lauren worked as a nurse at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she saw first hand Scotland's struggle with health and the rise of obesity. The connection between processed food consumption and declining public health was clear.

"When I started as a nurse, I don't remember it ever being that bad," she reflected. "By the time I finished, there were so many bariatric beds and wheelchairs. Poor diet has such a massive correlation with obesity and ill health, and we are expanding as a nation."

Her farming experience reinforces this health-focused perspective. At Glenkilrie, where 2,000 acres of heather hill land supports grazing animals, Lauren sees firsthand how 80% of Scotland's landscape is unsuitable for crop production.

She argues the push toward plant-based diets ignores basic geographic limitation, while dismissing the incredible nutrition that properly-raised meat provides.

Lauren confesses she was never political before, but in a recent Instagram post she claims: "I will not sit back and watch people tear our industry apart [...] I will shout from the rooftops about the good that farmers do, the positive impacts that responsible land management has on the environment and our community."

Diagnosing a Systemic Problem

What Lauren discovered when she began investigating Perth and Kinross school menus was far worse than she initially imagined.

A typical day might offer "mighty mince with mashed potatoes (Ve) and Yorkshire pudding (V), golden quorn dippers with mashed potatoes and baked beans (V), and a savoury sausage roll with mashed potatoes and baked beans (Ve)."

The prevalence of ultra-processed foods and the heavy reliance on carbohydrates painted a concerning picture of children's nutrition.

The contrast with neighbouring Aberdeenshire became starkly apparent when Lauren compared menus.

On the same day that her son could not be provided for, Aberdeenshire pupils enjoyed "katsu chicken curry with long grain rice, garden peas, and vegetable sticks, or homemade pizza finger with side salad, coleslaw and penne pasta."

Even more impressive was Aberdeenshire's transparency – they provide a list of local farms and businesses that they use to supply their ingredients.

"We live in the berry capital of the country, and the kids never see a berry," Lauren observed with frustration.

The Hidden Agenda Behind School Meals

During our own investigation, we discovered that Tayside Contracts – the company providing Perth and Kinross school meals – have achieved a bronze award as part of ProVeg UK's programme "School Plates".

To understand the significance of this, it's important to know what ProVeg actually does. The organisation's stated goal is to reduce global consumption of animal products by 50% by 2040.

In order to achieve the Bronze Award, a weekly Meat Free Day (which they refer to as 'Planet-Friendly Days') has been introduced to the primary lunch menu, incorporating a variety of pupil favourite vegetarian and vegan dishes. However, rather than using whole vegetables and plant-based ingredients, these meat-free options rely heavily on ultra-processed substitutes.

Dishes have also been renamed so as not to emphasise the phrase 'vegetarian' or 'vegan' – a strategy that some argue constitutes deception rather than education.

ProVeg has expanded in Scotland where they're now providing services to or in discussions with 20 of the 32 local authorities.

Addressing the Critics

The environmental argument for plant-based school meals particularly frustrates Lauren. "How on earth can you say it's for the climate when you're bringing soya from the other side of the world – something that can't even be produced in this country?"

Her response to critics who suggest the petition is about selling more meat is equally direct: "I take back a cattle beast a month, two stags and four lambs, and I'm very rarely left with anything. So yeah, it's not about selling meat at all."

This isn't about eliminating vegetarian or vegan options, Lauren emphasises. She would be perfectly content with wholefood plant-based meals – vegetable lasagna using fresh produce, seasonal soups, or even macaroni cheese made with real ingredients.

What frustrates her is the reliance on ultra-processed substitutes when nutritious plant based alternatives already exist. "There is no need for them to be this ultra-processed stuff that's not even food," she says. "If they can't get the protein and the nutrients that children need from using wholefoods, then what does that tell you about meat and how important it is?"

A Vision for Real Food in Schools

Lauren's dream school menu of the future would include wholefoods, seasonal ingredients, and local sourcing wherever possible.

She envisions children learning about balanced nutrition through their daily meals, understanding where food comes from, and developing healthy relationships with eating.

"I would like the school menu to be wholefoods as far as possible, seasonally sourced, and bought more locally," she explained. "Whether you are vegetarian, vegan, or meat-eater, I just want a choice."

A Call to Action for Scotland's Future

Lauren’s message to parents is clear: sign the petition, contact local authorities, and don't accept poor food as inevitable. "Don't feel that you have to do what they say," she urges. "If a vegetarian or vegan can say, 'Don't feed my child meat,' you're quite within your rights to say, 'Don't feed my child that.'"

The current postcode lottery, where children 90 miles apart receive vastly different quality meals, represents a fundamental failure of governance.

The petition has gained support from Quality Meat Scotland, NFU Scotland, and Scottish Land & Estates, and currently sits at over 3,700 signatures.

For Lauren, the fight represents more than school dinners – it's about ensuring the next generation receives the nutrition they need to thrive while preserving Scotland's agricultural heritage.

Scotland's children deserve better than processed substitutes masquerading as nutrition.

"We have a moral obligation as adults to give children the best food we possibly can," she concludes. In a nation renowned for its seafood, beef, and lamb, that shouldn't be too much to ask.

Sign the petition here.

Support Lauren's petition to remove ultra-processed foods from Scottish school meals here. Follow her campaign on Instagram @glenkilrielarder or discover more about their Highland Perthshire farm at glenkilrielarder.co.uk.