At issue is a communication released on Wednesday, 22 October, by the Lisbon City Council's Education Department on the SIGA platform, informing students about procedures for accessing vegetarian meals in public school cafeterias. It also revealed that, starting January 1, 2026, the vegetarian option would no longer be read on the booking panel, as it would no longer be made available on a one-time or occasional basis and would be "reserved exclusively for cases in which the vegetarian diet is adopted on an ongoing and structured basis."

Five days after this announcement, a petition emerged demanding the continuation of the unlimited provision of vegetarian meals in Lisbon's public schools. As of 5:30 pm, on 27 October, it had gathered more than 3,800 signatures. Education Councillor Sofia Athayde announced that she had instructed the departments that this decision "is ineffective and that the communicated changes must be reevaluated and better solutions studied to reconcile families' dietary choices for their students with new and strengthened effective policies to reduce food waste."

Before this reversal, the environmental organisation WWF Portugal expressed "great concern" about the Lisbon City Council's decision to remove vegetarian meals as a one-time option in public schools, warning of a "step backwards" in school meal policy.

"By assuming that non-vegetarian children must consume animal protein every day, the City Council fails to take into account the scientific evidence demonstrating the impact that diets have on health and the planet. Food systems are responsible for about 30% of CO₂ [carbon dioxide] emissions in Portugal and have a significant water footprint, especially in the case of beef," the environmental organization warned in a statement.

On Thursday, 23 October, in a response to the Lusa news agency, the office of Education Councillor Sofia Athayde (CDS-PP) said that "it is not true that the free choice of vegetarian meals will end," explaining that what is at stake is "not a change, but a clarification of rules that already existed" to "significantly reduce food waste caused by the unpredictability of the number of meals to be prepared each day."

In the petition to continue the free scheduling of vegetarian meals, officials argued that the city's decision to limit this option "is unacceptable and represents a setback in sustainability policies, freedom of choice, and nutritional education."

"Limiting access to vegetarian meals only to those who 'formally adopt a permanent diet' is a form of food discrimination, contrary to the spirit of Law No. 11/2017, which aims precisely to guarantee the right to a vegetarian option in public canteens, without impositions or administrative barriers," the public petition reads.

Demanding that the Lisbon City Council revoke the decision to eliminate the vegetarian option from the scheduling panel, the petitioners also mention that many tutors and students choose vegetarian meals for health, environmental, ethical, or personal preference reasons.