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

Or healthy food that contains meat.

Incorrect.

My ds' school tried it for a year then abandoned it too, because dcs simply weren't eating the food, which rather defeats the object. The main purpose of school meals is to ensure dcs are fed and ready to learn, and they weren't

The only meat-free food the kids would eat was cheese & tomato pizza.

Now there is a veggie option, but meat/fish based meals are always available.

Making meat-free food taste good requires it to be freshly cooked which makes it expensive. Child-friendly, nutritious & tasty ready meals are not easy.

No it isn't. Don't be absurd. Humans are omnivores and our digestive systems have evolved to digest meat safely.

Some highly processed meats such as cured sausage can be carcinogenic in large quantities but fresh meat is fine.

My children’s school only offers vegetarian and vegan options. It seems to suit all the kids. I’ve only ever heard one parent complaining, but she’s very pro meat eating and quite weird about it. She knew the menu when she enrolled her child there and the child eats the food happily, which the mum clearly isn’t too happy about. Apparently the child wants to be vegetarian at home but her mum won’t let her.

Some people seem to think they’ll die if they don’t eat meat multiple times a day.

Because, as the poster says, the vegi food often has gluten in it. This is not home made vegi food it is mass produced, usually frozen.

We could learn a lot from Japan, and yes I know money is tight but some of the things they do make sense.

Lots of schools in Japan have vegetable gardens maintained by teachers and students and used in the school lunches.

I know there isn't time in the day to add in gardening and obviously money is an issue, as is the lack of kitchen / cooks at some schools.

Leave me to dream, it makes me happy.

I assume some parents were not happy to have the choice of meat/vegetarian removed.

What's wrong with fake meat? You mean like Quorn?

"Red meat is classed as a probable cause of cancer. There is lots of good-quality evidence of a link between eating red meat and bowel cancer, but it is not as strong as the evidence for processed meat. In scientific studies, it’s hard to investigate eating red meat separately from eating processed meat.
There is some evidence that processed and red meat may increase the risk of other types of cancer, like stomach and pancreatic cancers. But we need more research to know for sure."

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/does-processed-and-red-meat-cause-cancer

The amount of red meat some people eat is very high compared to our ancestors, it is not so hard to get hold of now we don't have to hunt it ourselves!

Sounds like a political statement that is not necessary in a school.
There are meat free options every day, you say, so why make an absolute ban on meat on a Monday and announce that?

Kids can choose vege options. If they run out the kids can choose a pie.

Do the kids bringing a packed lunch also have to comply?
I would hate having to stick to a regimented No Meat Monday rule if I wanted to use the left over Sunday roast in a sandwich.

Our nursery feeds the kids a lot of quorn, due to a high number of kids there not eating beef. So I found it a big relief that my son is now moving to school with a much better menu of meat options.

‘I’ve seen Tunnocks’. I hope you wrote to your MP about that one. 😂

Because it's a political statement, because it usually involves fake meat/fish, and presumably because it's not popular. Pure virtue signalling.

I think for most Brits, generally, vegetarian options are less likely to be appealing than meat options on a menu. So if the issue is that parents have complained they've likely complained because what the school's vegetarian offerings, either normally or as part of "Meat Free Monday" have been unappealing to quite a few kids.

And from a school's perspective, if they've had a few parents turn to packed lunches for Mondays they probably need to do something to try and win them back as most school meal systems need as many kids as possible eating to make it more effective.

The crap quality, meat sausages are much worse than the veggie ones tho.

Mine would opt for cheese sandwich with those options.

No allergies just doesn't really do mushy wet food. And never has even as a baby he refused all mush.
I often pull his dinner out the pot before I add sauce. So things like carbonarra without the cream.
Also describes schools pizza as disgusting (how is it possible to make pizza disgusting?)

Quorn is, quite frankly, revolting.
Lots of folk feel sick/upset stomach after eating it too. I was a vegetarian for years but avoided it after a few attempts with it, due to the digestive effects.

Ways to make pizza disgusting are numerous, but cooking in batches and then attempting to keep individual slices warm, as many schools do, is a sure way to produce unpleasant pizza! The cheese congeals and the dough either goes like it's raw/mushy or turns really hard. The toppings might harden too, which won't help.

Mushy base that will be it. He doesn't do mush.

For long enough he wouldn't touch pizza at all. Then asked for a budget 49p individual pizza. Which I started adding extra cheese too.
He will now eat thin pizza cheese and pepperoni but is still picky.

Red and processed meats are carcinogenic.

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/does-processed-and-red-meat-cause-cancer

Cancer research UK specifically recommend Meat Free Mondays as one of a number of ways to help reduce consumption.

Meat doesn’t cause cancer FFS.

Ancient foods don’t cause modern diseases.

Cows are PART of the carbon cycle, they don’t contribute to it. Unlike tilling and fossil fuels.

Read some actual research. Red and processed meats ARE carcinogenic. Ask your doctor or a medical professional if you don’t believe Cancer Research UK.

So, 'meat is carcinogenic' as a blanket statement is indeed incorrect.
Overconsumption of certain meats may contribute to cancer.
Lots of environmental and dietary factors may contribute to cancer.
There's no need for a specific day to be assigned to eating a certain way.

This is nonsensical. A vegetarian child wouldnt have anything to eat on a meat only day but a child who eats meat would still have options on a no meat day.

Part of it that we created. You dont 'get' wild cows. We engineered the breed.