School stopping Meat Free Monday doesn’t make any sense

Surely they should provide the choice of meat and meat free each day.

Of course no one would be forced to eat meat.. its just its ridiculous the want to control others diet.

Ds is vegetarian and always has been. School lunches are a pain as it is.

I doubt that anyone would be forced to eat meat on that day, unlike the non-vegetarians who have been forced to not eat meat o one day!

Maybe but its still personal choice.

Whats the difference between having one day where all children have no choice other than something vegetarian and the following day all children only have a choice of something meat based?

My children’s primary got rid of meat free Mondays, “street food Thursdays”, etc etc - it boiled down to money. The catering company want maximum lunch take up as otherwise it’s almost not viable to provide a hot lunch at all - that means the meals most kids will eat and as cheap as possible. A vegetarian option is still available each day as well - usually macaroni cheese, tomato pasta, cheese pizza or jacket potatoes with cheese and beans. All that happened on “meat free Mondays” was they did two of those options that day instead of one - and lunch take up was lowest on Mondays because of it. Significantly lower - and that’s no affordable.

As it is I wouldn’t be surprised if the menu was just sandwiches and jacket potatoes by next year.

If there’s more food waste on a Monday then it’s not really environmentally friendly.

It’s good that they aren’t just serving processed fake meat butI assume they are serving pasta in tomato sauce with cheese rather than adding something more nutritious and interesting like mushrooms.

The obvious reason for it is that people send their children in with packed lunches on Mondays due to not wanting/liking the food that day - they can't afford the wastage.

I get the reasoning behind it and it and it wouldnt bother me in the slightest but I do also see where some parents are coming from.

Their child eats meat - why do they have to do a meat free Monday with no other option with meat in it.

If your child was vegan/vegetarian and Tuesday was meat only with no vegetarian option you wouldn't be happy.

So why is it okay to have a day where meat eaters have no choice to eat meat but its not okay for vegetarians to have a day where they have no choice to only eat meat?

Many in the rural & farming communities find it a boy offensive. Slogging your guts out all year to provide quality British food & it's not good enough for the local schools.

Personally I don't have a problem with it as long as it's quality & healthy meat free food (veg, pulses etc) and not UPF fake meat, but backed up with serving quality British meat rather than UPF nuggets, burgers etc.

The problem is kids prob turn their noses up at quality food both meat & meat free plus budgets don't allow for it

I would have thought ensuring they have a gluten free option is a reasonable adjustment

We're omnivores.

These sorts of initiatives are all very laudable but if the children don’t like what’s on offer, and the parents are voting with their money, then the school is stuck.

Because meat is carcinogenic while plants are the building blocks of good nutrition.

They’ll be losing money

@BusMumsHoliday why can't they just give them healthy food that's meat free? Baked potato and beans/cheese, vegetable curry and rice, bean chilli? Why do they need to put this TVP crap?!

This. Why force vegetarian/vegan food on people? There should be a choice of meat/ non meat every day.

Meat free Monday is not about catering to vegetarians (who should be catered for all week); it's about encouraging people who otherwise eat meat to avoid meat for one day, because industrial meat production is bad for the environment. The point is that the school as a whole would consume less meat if it did meat free Mondays.

I get the point about dietary restrictions and I know schools are trying to stretch tiny budgets. But assuming most schools are like my DS's - and jacket potato or pasta is always one option - I can't see a meat free day restricting children that much. I imagine it's part of a greater push back against anything environmental that's going on at the moment by some segments of society.

As an ex veggie i was really disappointed in the meat free menu at my kids school…pasta with tomato sauce and sprinkle cheese is not a great main meal for those on free school meals who may be going home to pasta with tomato sauce. I’m also gluten free ,need a high protein diet and don’t eat dairy so I know that achieving nutritionally diverse meals for those with allergies or other health needs is difficult and needs a creative menu designer. Wheat is in a lot of veggie /vegan protein options and perhaps the average child may turn their nose up at pulses.

I have a child who is very funny about food. With a meat option and a vegetarian option we had about a 1 in 2 chance that he would eat one of the meals and the rest of the time he would have to have a pack up. For us “meat free Monday” meant “Pack up Monday”.

I'm confused, are you saying you're not happy that the school have decided to offer a bioavailable source of protein and iron on all of the days, and want them to restrict it to just 4 days a week?

My kids school does it but bizarrely still offers a vegetarian option even though the Monday main is also veggie e.g. the main is tomato pasta but veggie is tofu thai curry. It doesn’t bother me except I’m not thrilled that quorn appears on the rotating menu because it’s ultra processed junk but it’s only every 3 weeks so not worth complaining about.

Well if they made a song and dance about meat free some people might think they are being fed pizza only - they should have just included it without making it a big thing

I voted YABU as there are meat free options available every day so there is no specific need for a meat-free day.
Unfortunately, it just gets the backs up of the non-veg cohort, such is human nature.

Also lets face it, lots of children are not adventurous eaters. The moment you introduce restriction into a menu, you make it harder to feed something most will like that is also nutritious enough for growing children