First, let me admit my bias and prejudice. I love meat. I love steak. I love chicken. I love pork. I love seafood and fish. Lamb, duck, goose, turkey, alligator, and so much more. If it walks or flies or swims, chances are good I’d like to taste it, or maybe smother it in chili, cheese, and onions.
Okay, glad I got that out of the way, because it matters in relations to what I’m thinking about today, which is meatless Mondays. A local school district near where Mrs. Greenbean and I live recently announced it would be instituting a policy of not serving meat on Mondays in the school meal program. Click here for a news story about it. It didn’t take long for the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Todd Staples, to weigh in on the subject and accuse the school district of starving children to death and worshiping satan. Okay, maybe he didn’t go that far, but I read his op/ed in the newspaper, and that was kinda the tone of the whole thing. Staples really seems worried about the vegetarian/vegan agenda. Here is a part of what he said:
“Restricting children’s meal choice to not include meat is irresponsible and has no place in our schools . . . This activist movement called ‘Meatless Monday’ is a carefully orchestrated campaign that seeks to eliminate meat from Americans’ diets seven days a week—starting with Mondays.”
Now, here is where I stand. As much as the Greenbeans love meat, it is not always the healthiest thing to eat. It is also wise to cut back on the amount of meat you eat for health reasons. Americans eat way too much meat, with many thinking it should be served at every meal, which is ridiculous. For most of human history, meat has been a treat, something special, something to celebrate. Periodically our household will intentionally cut back on our meat consumption, specifically during Lent or the summer months.
So, I’m not against meatless Mondays. It might be a good thing. But what I want to know is, how do you feel about it? Please take a moment to vote in the opinion poll at the top, and please share on your social media so we can get as many votes as possible. Thanks!
image from blogs.sxu.edu
3 responses to “OPINION POLL–MEATLESS MONDAYS”
I’m not so sure this is a great idea, even being true that meat is not needed for every meal, and my reason is this: believe it or not, there are children who go to school whose only source of real nutrition, or even only source for food at all is the food provided at school. It’s a sad reality, but its just that, reality. I like the idea of educating students and parents on proper nutrition, but school is not the place to put it in practice. Giving the children options, that’s one thing, but I’m not in favor of completely taking it off the menu, even for one day.
thanks carly for reading and commenting. i think where i differ from you, is that i feel like a balanced and nutritious meal can be found without meat. therefore, skipping the meat doesn’t mean skipping the protein, but i see what your saying. for a lot of children that one meal at school is the best meal they are going to get, and i would never want to do anything to hurt those children.
[…] rise in the number of vegetarians, vegans, and people (like me) who are cutting back on meat has prompted the marketplace to develop meatless burgers. Recently I […]