Because killing animals is cheap eats.

Because vegan and even vegetarianism is still fringe behavior and not mainstream. School lunches is not the place to make this type of conversion.

My kids were in a private preschool that converted to a vegetarian menu. My kids ate the menu and after a few weeks they were asking for alternatives. They only liked half of the entrees and only so-so. We started packing their lunches. If we packed the lunches, they could include meat as long as they were stable to sit on a cart for the 2-3 hours between arrival and lunch time. We got freezer pack lunch bags and packed them lunches that they liked. By the end of the first year, less than half of the students were eating school provided lunches (even though the cost of lunch was included in the tuition at this school) and the school ended up switching back to the old food program.

Vegetarian meals are not mainstream and until they are, we should not be pushing something this unusual on a public school system. It's a choice and a minority choice at this point.

Anonymous wrote:Well they can't serve peanut butter like most kids used to eat...

My kid's public school served peanut butter and jelly. There was a peanut free table for anyone who needed it, and that's it.

My kids love meat. And vegetables and fruit too. But they won’t eat the school food; it is too processed and they have been spoiled with nicely prepared foods from home.
If I was a bad cook, my kids would probably like the school food.
Also, school lunches try to be “low fat” which isn’t necessarily healthy. Deep fried foods are bad; natural dairy fat and olive oil not so much.
At home the kids get things like green beans, crudités, tuna, homemade roast beef, and whole milk. I wish school food were more like that.

All schools need to ban meat completely.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you going to serve instead that most kids will eat? Give me a 5 day sample menu.

I'm still waiting on the sample menu...

I was hoping to see this as well. I was also hoping to see some acknowledgment of the fact that many students, particularly older students who are POC may be lactose intolerant, so when you leave out meat, minimize dairy, and go peanut free, and have extremely low and restricted budgets as well as kitchens that are often set up to heat food rather than to prepare it from scratch, menus of meals that students will actually eat and that meet nutritional standards might be a challenge. This would be an even more difficult challenge if we can agree that white flour, hydrogenated oils, and large amounts of sugars and sodium should also be minimized.

So: waiting.

Its easy enough to do but most kids will not eat it. There are lots of veggie substitutes.

Which is why my list included “ meals that students will actually eat”. If the goal is “health”, trying to feed kids highly processed meat substitutes is not a rational goal, or likely to be an effective one — as you, yourself point out.
So is the goal animal rights? At a considerable cost to the health and well-being of human students? Something else?

Anonymous wrote:Because most people eat meat and it is an excellent source of protein.

There are a lot of things to object to in regards to American school lunches, so your focus on just the meat is laughable and suspect if you truly are concerned about bad eating habits.

most American children lack fiber, not protein.

Anonymous wrote:Mcps has done a decent job of always having a vegetarian option. I think they could do a bit further with beans and lentil which also reheat beautifully—eg bean and rice burritos, daal with rice, etc., plus things like mini quiche, etc.
I do wonder if beyond meat will be a decent option for school—I think it’s gross but probably less gross than the school lunch burgers.
— omnivore

Beyond meat and impossible burgers are delicious. We could replace meat with these substituties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because only approximately 1 in 200 children in the US are vegetarian.

Okay I’m vegan and not vegetarian but she has a point. We know a meat free or less meat diet is healthier. We can change this numbers so more kids will grow up vegetarian. We need to model healthy behavior.

I don't know that. Educate me, please.

Anonymous wrote:Do you all live in areas that still have meatless friday for public school lunch? We do and I wonder how common it is. I would support all vegetarian meals in school. I'm an omnivore, but why not.

Because with meat at least they’re still getting protein. When it comes to school lunches, vegetarian = almost pure carbs in my experience.

When a vegan or vegetarian becomes one it is more meat for us meat lovers.

Because they won't get any pudding if they don't eat their meat!

Do you all live in areas that still have meatless friday for public school lunch? We do and I wonder how common it is. I would support all vegetarian meals in school. I'm an omnivore, but why not.

Mcps has done a decent job of always having a vegetarian option. I think they could do a bit further with beans and lentil which also reheat beautifully—eg bean and rice burritos, daal with rice, etc., plus things like mini quiche, etc.
I do wonder if beyond meat will be a decent option for school—I think it’s gross but probably less gross than the school lunch burgers.
— omnivore