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

Think that's your explanation then. Lentil bolognese may not be the easiest sell amongst school kids. Except everyone's child on MN who of course eats nothing but. This obviously is in addition to any DC who might have dietary issues- presumably you know that any restriction like this means some people with limited diets won't be able to partake where they otherwise would.

I think the PPs who said it's cost are probably right. People vote with their feet. School kitchens are on incredibly tight budgets, and they probably can't afford to have a day where they're still obliged to cater but the take up is lower. People often can't afford to pay money for food their kids won't eat.

This, people are funny like that.

I do think it’s a good thing to do though, and there is an element of raising awareness to giving it a name.

Would have vastly preferred a lentil bolognese to the meat version as a child. Mince always looked like worms to me!

But not on meat free Monday....

I used to think the same about mince as well until I was about 5 haha!

However, it's not a lentil bolognese v beef choice, it's a lentil bolognese v a packed lunch containing something the child likes choice. More children are going to prefer the latter than the former.

I can see why it might not work. There's a lot of way meat-free can go wrong. Unhealthy pizza not filling kids up and bad for them. Ultra-processed meat substitutes - bad for the environment and health. A tasty and nutritious bean stew rejected by kids. As long as there are veggie options I wouldn't worry.

Yes, meat free days were tricky for my son who is allergic to most non meat sources of protein. He ate a lot of plain baked potatoes and salad on days when there was nothing suitable for him on the menu. Not what you'd call a balanced nutritious meal for a teenage boy but for once in a while it does no harm and he always had the option of taking something in from home if it bothered him that much. I wouldn't have sent him to a school that was meat free all the time but I wouldn't object to once a week, especially if it was a set day so that I could make sure that we always had stuff in for a packed lunch on those days. I think that for most people eating less meat is a good thing and now DS is at University I'm buying a lot less meat for the rest of the family so an initiative like this is probably beneficial overall and I'd support it even though for my DS it would be a bit of a pain in the backside.

I'd assume some kids have complained to their parents or the parents think the meat-free option wasn't good enough (nutritionally or in terms of flavour appeal). The meat-free day clearly isn't important to those people, so they complained. It's probably as simple as that.

Apparently not many kids go for the beef at our school either! Majority seem to go for jacket potato with beans and cheese or a sandwich on any given day, according to my DC.

I’ve learned lots on this thread about how dietary requirements means there can be lots of restrictions on plant based foods like lentils due to potential gluten contamination (have I got this right?) something I’d not heard about before.

The cost point has been interesting. I’d got stuck on thinking plant based food is cheaper and hadn’t factored in the potential lack of uptake. My DC are still entitled to free meals due to age so hadn’t considered that.

Not many PP talking about environmental benefits to less meat and some saying it’s about virtue signalling or being political, which is not my take.

Mmm anecdotally younger kids in particular seem to prefer chicken to red meat.

The difficulty with the environmental argument is that it supposes the child will eat the non meat option served up. If a child gets the meal, doesn't eat it and comes home hungry and wanting to make up for what they didnt eat earlier, that's more food, so potentially a higher carbon footprint than just providing a meat meal they'd eat. They may also be having a meat free packed lunch instead of the school dinner, the popularity of cheese sandwiches being what it is. So I suspect that's why it's not been much focused on. It's not as simple as lentil bolognese is greener than beef so that means meat free Monday is better for the environment.

Maybe a bit of a stretch re it raising carbon footprint but I hear what you are saying. I guess the magic solution, certainly from my perspective, is to create meat free Monday options that the kids will want to eat, that is nutritionally dense and doesn’t cost too much to cater. Plus, as I’ve learned, not including any potential allergens. Not easy! Even outside of the meat free Monday discussion, it’s been a reminder that catering for schools is bloody hard.

On meat free Monday there is still a veggie option

I’m wondering if it was more expensive to make the meals sufficiently high in iron, protein etc without the meat? Or perhaps as a pp said, it was harder to cater for allergies etc?

I don’t eat meat personally, but saying “meat free Monday” in a school seems fairly meaningless.

My son just takes packed lunches as the caterers made a mistake and we haven't felt like trusting them since.

However,.I imagine it makes sense for caterers to factor in different "special diets" and allergies when planning their menus.

I am low /no meat but thst doesn't mean I can't see all the reasons school caterers may decide to offer it every day.