School stopping Meat Free Monday doesn’t make any sense

[Miriamfriend]

Our schools trust has recently stopped being part of Meat Free Monday for school lunches. The school have said some parents complained about it.

The school is very focused on being environmentally conscious- crisps not allowed as a break time snack due to potential errant packets, single use plastic actively discouraged etc. I can’t see a single reason why a school or a parent would have any issue with lunches being meat free for one day a week but maybe I’m missing something?

You are being unreasonable- being meat free for one meal is not a reasonable request

You are not being unreasonable -being meat free for one school meal is not a bad thing

I at one of the primary schools I go to for supply, they have a vegetarian menu every day for every child. They decided to do it because they can make better meals with the tiny budget without meat.

I don't care either way, doesn't bother me if they're scrapping it or keeping it.

What were the meal options like? It was often cheese pizza for example at Primary. Or fake meat, which isn't good for them.

Have they costed it out and its higher than meat?

So are they making the children eat meat on Monday? No vegan/veggie option at all?

The issue is that 'meat-free Monday' on a school catering budget doesn't mean lovely vegetarian offerings packed with delicious seasonal vegetables. It often means highly processed meat alternatives, usually made with soya or other common allergens. It's possible that the parents who complained have children with severe allergies whose diets are already heavily restricted.

They’ve said it’s to do with some parents not liking it but didn’t specify why. The food choices on meat free days were not any more processed than offerings on other days ie not fake meat

Still a veggie option everyday but they’ve just stopped being part of meat free Monday where no one was offered meat.

Blanket policies can create complications for students with medical restrictions on their diets. These students are often vulnerable to begin with and they should not be faced with additional burdens just because it is trendy to prioritize certain menus.

Not every restriction is going to be convered by the common allergen list. You need to consider every potential medical condition and every potential allergy no matter how esoteric when making strict food rules.

So are they NOT allowing children to be meat free at all, or are they just not offering vegan/veggie meals only on a Monday?

If they stopped using the term “meat free Monday” and just served up
macaroni cheese or something, no one would even notice.

DM (90) doesn’t like vegetarian food, but she’ll happily eat a meal with no meat in it if it’s just served up without a fanfare.

If there's meat free options every day then they don't really need to also do meat free Monday.

As others have said, this may have causes issues for children with allergies,coeliac disease etc. My daughters school has just completely changed their menu, and it has been an absolute nightmare for her as coeliac. The new provider uses extra cheap meat, with lots of fillers - gluten. So she is having to become a vegetarian at school - which isn't an issue if it was fresh food - she loves fresh veggies etc more than meat, but they often have meat replacements in them which also often contain gluten, so we are now a bit stuffed.

It depends what the alternatives are and if they are nutritionally good enough. The vast majority of school dinners are atrocious and the meat is often most of the calories. Thousands of schools also continue to flout the rules against sugary items, and provide a chocolate biscuit or the like (ive seen tunnocks etc) because they simply cant provide enough calories on the budget provided without resorting to sugar/puddings.

My concern would be that with a lack of creative effort and a weak budget, you could end with a vegetarian option thats lower calorie, overly carby, and lacking protein & B vitamins. Meat is a very nutritionally dense food.

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

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.

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

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.

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?

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”.

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.

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.

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

@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?!

They’ll be losing money