Hot lunch debate as Bay Area schools go meatless on Mondays More districts skipping meat on Mondays

Third-grader Deanna Soto eats a grilled cheese sandwich at Spruce School in South San Francisco. Third-grader Deanna Soto eats a grilled cheese sandwich at Spruce School in South San Francisco. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Hot lunch debate as Bay Area schools go meatless on Mondays 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

(09-09) 11:41 PDT -- Mondays have become meat free in hundreds of school cafeterias across the Bay Area, a move praised by animal rights activists and environmentalists and condemned by the livestock industry for pushing politics into the lunch line.

South San Francisco Unified joined the Meatless Monday movement this year, joining Oakland, West Contra Costa and several other districts that have adopted the campaign within the last few years.

District officials say it's all about improving student nutrition and drawing attention to alternative sources of protein.

The main entree at lunch doesn't have to be meat or poultry, said Linda Carrozzi, South San Francisco's director of nutritional services and a registered dietitian.

"It can be other foods that have protein," she said. "Our school lunches really do embrace healthier lifestyle changes."

Not a new idea

School lunches have long included meatless meals like grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese pizza and bean or cheese burritos. They just weren't part of political or social movements.

In South San Francisco, students were still adjusting to the new menu, which as of last year offered chicken nuggets every Monday. At Spruce Elementary, Jocelyn Ortiz, 7, knew she wasn't getting meat, although she wasn't quite clear why.

"Meatless Monday means we have no meat because we don't eat meat on Mondays at school," Jocelyn said as she grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich from the cafeteria counter. "Because sometimes the rule in school is on Mondays we don't eat meat."

As the second-grader filed through the lunch line, she passed under a Humane Society poster promoting Meatless Mondays. The organization has been actively promoting the campaign in schools, saying it's a win-win for child nutrition and animals.

There are billions of animals slaughtered for food production each year, said Kristie Middleton, food policy manager for the Humane Society of the United States.

"By going meat free just one day a week we can prevent some of this animal suffering," she said.

'Radical campaign'

Not surprisingly, the meat and poultry industries have pushed back.

"Meatless Monday is not a grassroots effort to celebrate healthy eating," said the Animal Agriculture Alliance in published talking points addressing Meatless Mondays. "It's a well-funded, radical campaign pushing an extreme animal rights and environmental agenda by promoting false claims about animal agriculture."

It's about choice, said Janet Riley, senior vice president for the American Meat Institute, a coalition of farmers, ranchers, packer-processors and others in the livestock industries.

As a parent, I want my children to have options at school," Riley said. "I don't want the school to take away my sons' access to the complete protein that meat represents."

The Meatless Monday concept goes back to meat rationing during World War I and II, organizers said. In 2003, the official campaign was launched in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to reduce the health effects of excessive meat consumption.

Since then, animal rights groups and environmental groups have embraced the effort, with the latter arguing that the livestock industry is harder on natural resources than other forms of food production.

Bay Area school districts endorsing the effort in varying ways include Novato, Mt. Diablo, Piedmont, Benicia and Fremont.

Meets standards

A few parents have questioned the lack of meat on Mondays, saying the lunches aren't filling, said Spruce Principal Israel Castillo. But per national standards, they include the required nutritional elements and calories.

The Monday menus rotate weekly in South San Francisco: grilled cheese sandwich; fruit yogurt, string cheese and graham crackers; taco cheese triangles; and a bean and cheese burrito. The lunches also include milk as well as fruit or baby carrots.

"Everyone can agree that as a society, we are not eating enough plants," Middleton said. "We're not eating enough fruits and vegetables. We're not eating enough grains. We're not eating enough beans and legumes."

All that is definitely part of the message to the students, Carrozzi said.

"And we tell them a little about the Humane Society and animals," she said. "I like how they talk about compassionate eating. I think the kids are very curious about that."