The San Diego Unified School District is considering the addition of a "meatless Monday" to its cafeteria menus.
If approved, the proposal would offer Meatless Mondays menus throughout the district’s elementary and K-8 schools beginning in the 2013-14 school year.
The initiative that began 10 years ago with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been adopted at a number of schools nationwide.
The idea behind the campaign is to help Americans cut 15% of their weekly saturated fat intake. Because the primary source of saturated fats are meats and dairy, the Monday Campaign suggests going “meatless” just one day a week to achieve that goal.
The organization released survey results in October 2012 that suggested asking participants to reduce meat intake one day a week resulted in 73-percent saying they eat more vegetables and 64-percent eating more fruits.
Organizers say eliminating meat doesn’t automatically make your diet healthier. It’s still important to eat the right balance of healthy foods and to limit your intake of unhealthy foods.
Some suggested menu ideas are vegetable lasagna, baked potatoes, grilled vegetable paninis or tofu and vegetable stir fry.
The proposal has stirred up a lot of discussion on the NBC 7 Facebook page.
Amanda Jane House Organ asked, "Why not balance the entire menu served instead of imposing a vegetarian day?"
Mike McHugh of El Cajon writes, ""Keep the Meat If my kid has this thrown down their throat they will take bag lunchs [sic] on Mondays."
Kindergarten teacher Whitney Dean posted, "I work in a school and it is not the lunch served in our cafeteria that makes students overweight. It is the choices made outside of the classroom and we unfortunately have no control. All we can do as teachers is set a good example and hope it soaks in."
Military recruiter Eric Riederer agreed that the issue of overweight children begins off school campuses. Riederer posted this comment: "Meatless Mondays will help kids loose [sic] weight!? That's absurd! Not letting them drink soda or have McDonald's everyday will help them loose weight. Them actually going outside and being active instead of being glued to the Xbox will help them loose weight. Instead of blaming the education system or the food that is served, lets take a deep look at parenting!"
San Diego mother Katy Addy Lopez added this, "I mentioned it to my daughter and she cringed."
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Photo Credit: karimian via Flickr