Bob, I might agree that growing children need protein and calcium, both available in meat and dairy products, but also available in leafy green vegetables. As we age, we need to change our diet. That's where I see people failing. They keep eating like a 10 yr-old kid into their 40s and 50s. If they make it to their 60s, they are miserable fat people with no energy and lots of medical problems. Yes, we feed cattle lots of corn and grains to fatten them up while keeping them in pens where they won't have a chance to work off that abundance of calories and carbs. The next thing that happens is a sudden 'accident' that brings about their death. I have no desire to eat the foods that make me perfect for the slaughterhouse. I suppose you could make an argument that sugar is vegetable based too. Only the makers of sodas would want you to believe that. . . and I gave up laying eggs a long time ago.
I agree that schools have no business trying to force children into a vegetarian or vegan diet. Unfortunately, schools have no business being the main source of nutrition for our children either. Schools are supposed to
educate children, but we are allowing our schools to become responsible for
rearing children. When you turn over rearing children to the schools, you have to realize that somebody else's goof-ball ideas may be forced on your kid. All the vegetarian or vegan meals in the world won't do any good if Johnny and Mary come home and drink their fill of sweet soda-pop and fill up with salty or super-sweet snacks while sitting on the couch playing video games or watching TV.
Do you remember the days when the average service station had two pumps out front and maybe a single soda machine? Inside, they probably had a gumball machine and maybe sold cracker packs or chewing gum. Now, our gas stations are complete convenience stores with every conceivable junk food in the world and a gazillion ways to ingest drinks full of artificial flavors and sweeteners. Some even have 3 or 4 microwave ovens to heat up some greasy snack made of who-knows-what. How many times per day do some kids and people eat meals out of these places. Once a day is horrible, but many people eat those 'mystery meals' two or more times per day.

It's not a convenience, it's a way of life. . . er. . . death.