School lunch is a hotly debated topic these days.

Around 30 Million children are served a hot lunch every day. The National School Lunch Program is funded and regulated by the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA. Participating schools get cash minimal subsidies and donated commodities from the USDA for each meal served (now there’s an incentive to get all the kids to eat..). The meals must meet specific nutrition requirements, and eligible children must receive free or reduced price lunches.

So what are people fretting about?

The low budget for the meals usually means preprocessed chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fries, and a host of other fast foods that may be filling, but hardly nutrient rich. Parents, educators, and nutrition professionals would like to see children getting better food. Entrenched businesses find that concept difficult to accept.

Baltimore public schools, serving 80,000 children, decided to try out a new concept – Meatless Mondays. Instead of protein from meats, they are serving up beans and cheese. This is in order to reduce the amount of saturated fats and cholesterol from the meats (although cheese, an animal product, also contains saturated fats and cholesterol).

The decision, reports Eliza Barclay for the Atlantic, has caused the meat industry serious grief. No less than 4 organizations have attacked Baltimore’s moves:

The American Meat Institute says that kids are being deprived of much needed protein. A bogus claim stating that 75% of kids are protein deficient is totally unbased. In fact, there are barely any Americans with a protein deficiency these days.

Pork Magazine alleged that the decision was made without any dietetic consultation. Unfortunately for them, the entire meal plan was created by a school dietitian and a chef.

The Animal Agriculture Alliance and Missouri Beef Concil were just plain “shocked” and hoped this maligned decision would not spread to other communities.

While the  business fears of the meat industry are understandable, only good can come of Meatless Mondays. Nobody is being forced to become a vegetarian, and a good portion of the kids will probably be having some form of meat for dinner anyway. So why the fuss? Introducing children to vegetable lasgana, various bean dishes, and other additions such as whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables is but a small measure in trying to fix childhood obesity.

Onwards and upwards, school lunchers. Get ready for for tasty Tuesdays and weight-loss Wednesdays…

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