A few years before Queens elementary school PS 244 became the first public school in the nation to go vegetarian, it decided to stop serving chocolate milk. That had never been done before in New York City’s school meals program. Robert Groff, the school’s principal, says even that first simple step took a lot of time and effort.

Groff, whose grandfathers both died of heart attacks in their 50s, co-founded PS 244 in 2008 on the premise that health and wellness is closely tied to academic performance. The chocolate milk removal, suggested at first by a third grader who was learning about nutrition labels, was followed by other menu changes that maximized healthy eating.

It soon became apparent that meat-free meals were the way to go, given that the city–which serves 850,000 meals a day–can’t necessarily afford top-of-the-line lean meat. “We had no focus on vegetarianism specifically,” says Groff. “If we were presented with a free-range, organic chicken, that’s something we would talk about.”

Kids at a recent school dinner at PS 244. Courtesy of Robert Groff/PS 244

PS 244, also called the Active Learning Elementary School, became a test kitchen for the entire city. No more sloppy joes and beef tacos. Instead, there was tofu, veggie meatballs, chickpea curry, salad bars, and mozzarella, tomato, and spinach paninis. (Some menus, especially the vegan ones, are probably healthier than others–vegetarian diets can incorporate mac and cheese and pizza as much as spinach and brown rice.)

By January 2013, with the help of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food and NYC’s Office of School Food, PS 244 had a full meat-free breakfast and lunch menu, made at no added cost compared to the city’s meal program. Since then, one other city public school has gone completely vegetarian, and other schools now have a vegetarian lunch option to choose from.

PS 244 is an extreme example of the move that most school cafeterias around the country are making to serve more plant-based fare. This is partly a sign of general growing recognition of the health benefits of eating less meat–and also part requirement: At the behest of Congress and Michelle Obama’s anti-childhood obesity campaign, USDA set major new rules in 2012 requiring less sugar and a wider variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains in school meals. There were also guidelines for stricter portion size, calorie, and sodium limits. (Schools that want federal meal subsidies must follow these rules.)

But PS 244 isn’t going to be an example for everyone: Schools nationally are having trouble with the new USDA guidelines at it is, says Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association.