The end of mystery meat?
October 17, 2009 7:20 PM Subscribe
I can just see it. "Obama is indoctrinating our kids with socialism and taking their meat away so they're scrawny weaklings! Ban public schools!"
It's a shame too, the idea has a lot of merit. While vegetarian meals aren't automatically healthy, they leave a lot of room for healthy offerings while even "real" meat in school lunches is generally fried and unhealthy even for meat dishes.
I also think it is an idea that could gain traction if marketed right. "No meat" sets people off, but putting meat in one of the smaller compartments of the tray while filling the main compartment with vegetables and/or whole grains would go over better. Less meat, not Meatless. Sure, there might be complaints that schools are "too cheap" by scaling back on the meat, but that would likely die down right around the time a new tax is proposed to supplement meager school budgets.
posted by Saydur at 7:48 PM on October 17, 2009
It's a shame too, the idea has a lot of merit. While vegetarian meals aren't automatically healthy, they leave a lot of room for healthy offerings while even "real" meat in school lunches is generally fried and unhealthy even for meat dishes.
I also think it is an idea that could gain traction if marketed right. "No meat" sets people off, but putting meat in one of the smaller compartments of the tray while filling the main compartment with vegetables and/or whole grains would go over better. Less meat, not Meatless. Sure, there might be complaints that schools are "too cheap" by scaling back on the meat, but that would likely die down right around the time a new tax is proposed to supplement meager school budgets.
posted by Saydur at 7:48 PM on October 17, 2009
Kudos to the Baltimore City Public School System!
...Sorry PETA, but mainstream is where it matters.
posted by applemeat at 8:00 PM on October 17, 2009
...Sorry PETA, but mainstream is where it matters.
posted by applemeat at 8:00 PM on October 17, 2009
So it would sound too Catholic if they did it on Fridays?
posted by dilettante at 8:07 PM on October 17, 2009
posted by dilettante at 8:07 PM on October 17, 2009
I'd be happier if the meat served wasn't disgusting mostly-soyburger crap. Eeeech. If it's that big of a deal, serve smaller portions of real meat, don't Americanize it and give us big portions of junk and tell us we're getting a deal.
posted by adipocere at 8:08 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by adipocere at 8:08 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I want to make sure I've got my ration card right. Is Soylent Green Day Tuesday or is Thursday Soylent Yellow Day?
posted by chambers at 8:33 PM on October 17, 2009
posted by chambers at 8:33 PM on October 17, 2009
Meatless Monday? But isn't Monday the day McDonalds does its 2-for-3-dollar Big Mac special... waitaminute... could it be...?
Oh, and Soylent Green is SO not Vegetarian, even if it's made from Vegans.
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 8:43 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Oh, and Soylent Green is SO not Vegetarian, even if it's made from Vegans.
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 8:43 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Beats the meat is different than being a vegina.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:46 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:46 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Better than being a vagitarian?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:53 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:53 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Haha, I misread that URL and thought that the Meatles were some kind of Beatles tribute/parody band.
posted by echo target at 9:46 PM on October 17, 2009
posted by echo target at 9:46 PM on October 17, 2009
>Beats the meat is different than being a vegina.
>Better than being a vagitarian?
I'm a vegetarian now. My father, years and years ago, just before my 21st birthday, decided to take me for a drink. As I was about to take my first sip of a margarita, he tried to "out" me as a lesbian by saying, "So what's that sticker on your car? It's okay, nothing wrong with being a vagitarian."
Now that I'm vegetarian, I give him a lot of hell about that. Meatless Mondays, then, becomes a horrible, horrible and brain-bleach-needing pun.
posted by neewom at 10:13 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
>Better than being a vagitarian?
I'm a vegetarian now. My father, years and years ago, just before my 21st birthday, decided to take me for a drink. As I was about to take my first sip of a margarita, he tried to "out" me as a lesbian by saying, "So what's that sticker on your car? It's okay, nothing wrong with being a vagitarian."
Now that I'm vegetarian, I give him a lot of hell about that. Meatless Mondays, then, becomes a horrible, horrible and brain-bleach-needing pun.
posted by neewom at 10:13 PM on October 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you don't eat your beets, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your beets?!
posted by markkraft at 10:15 PM on October 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your beets?!
posted by markkraft at 10:15 PM on October 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
""So what's that sticker on your car? It's okay, nothing wrong with being a vagitarian."
So... would you like a nice piece of carpet to munch with that salad?!
posted by markkraft at 10:17 PM on October 17, 2009
So... would you like a nice piece of carpet to munch with that salad?!
posted by markkraft at 10:17 PM on October 17, 2009
"Kudos to the Baltimore City Public School System!"
...for making vegetarian food that looks even scarier than mystery meat!
posted by markkraft at 10:19 PM on October 17, 2009
...for making vegetarian food that looks even scarier than mystery meat!
posted by markkraft at 10:19 PM on October 17, 2009
So... would you like a nice piece of carpet to munch with that salad?!
Nothing like dry meat substitute to satiate a girl. Thing is, he completely misunderstood the HRC sticker.
posted by neewom at 10:49 PM on October 17, 2009
Nothing like dry meat substitute to satiate a girl. Thing is, he completely misunderstood the HRC sticker.
posted by neewom at 10:49 PM on October 17, 2009
So... would you like a nice piece of carpet to munch with that salad?!
Tossed salad?
posted by The Monkey at 11:21 PM on October 17, 2009
Tossed salad?
posted by The Monkey at 11:21 PM on October 17, 2009
I misread the first link and thought I was going to be getting a video of a Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye circle jerk.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:23 AM on October 18, 2009
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:23 AM on October 18, 2009
Well, if you believe the allegations, MJ was a fan of manual release.
posted by minimii at 8:33 AM on October 18, 2009
posted by minimii at 8:33 AM on October 18, 2009
I think meatloaf was a food group at my high school cafeteria.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 8:42 AM on October 18, 2009
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 8:42 AM on October 18, 2009
I think this is great. Per-capita consumption of meat has increased dramatically over the last few decades - a 40% increase between 1961 and 2002. Forty percent!
This represents real low-hanging fruit in terms of reducing greenhouse emissions. If everyone just cut back a bit it would make a huge difference.
So I really like these initiatives that strike a balance between strident vegetarianism (which I don't think will ever work - meat is really tasty!) and the all-too-common "meat lover" mindset (which is unsustainable and probably unhealthy).
I maintain a link blog on this topic:
http://blog.semiveggie.com/
...and I call myself a "semivegetarian" - someone who eats meat infrequently, but I really enjoy it when I do! I aim for once a week, but it varies depending on circumstances.
posted by gribbly at 10:46 AM on October 18, 2009
This represents real low-hanging fruit in terms of reducing greenhouse emissions. If everyone just cut back a bit it would make a huge difference.
So I really like these initiatives that strike a balance between strident vegetarianism (which I don't think will ever work - meat is really tasty!) and the all-too-common "meat lover" mindset (which is unsustainable and probably unhealthy).
I maintain a link blog on this topic:
http://blog.semiveggie.com/
...and I call myself a "semivegetarian" - someone who eats meat infrequently, but I really enjoy it when I do! I aim for once a week, but it varies depending on circumstances.
posted by gribbly at 10:46 AM on October 18, 2009
I would love to see schools offer salad bars in their cafeterias. Even the pickiest kids will put together a healthy meal if they have control over what goes on their plate. It doesn't have to be all vegetarian, either.
posted by zinfandel at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2009
posted by zinfandel at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2009
I call myself a "semivegetarian" - someone who eats meat infrequently, but I really enjoy it when I do!
I like anything that will see less animals killed.
But I've never heard the term used in the way you're using it. Usually I've heard it used to mean 'don't ever eat red meat' (but will eat chicken, and possibly bacon) or 'only eat fish' (but don't want to say pescatarian).
Might be a culture/dialect difference.
Even the pickiest kids will put together a healthy meal if they have control over what goes on their plate.
Judging by Jamie Oliver's School Dinners (I know, the Brits are weird, calling lunch 'dinner'? nuts!) show that's not even close to true. Don't know if the behaviour of those bratty little English kids is portable to the rest of the western world, but I have a horrible feeling it probably is.
posted by The Monkey at 9:26 PM on October 18, 2009
I like anything that will see less animals killed.
But I've never heard the term used in the way you're using it. Usually I've heard it used to mean 'don't ever eat red meat' (but will eat chicken, and possibly bacon) or 'only eat fish' (but don't want to say pescatarian).
Might be a culture/dialect difference.
Even the pickiest kids will put together a healthy meal if they have control over what goes on their plate.
Judging by Jamie Oliver's School Dinners (I know, the Brits are weird, calling lunch 'dinner'? nuts!) show that's not even close to true. Don't know if the behaviour of those bratty little English kids is portable to the rest of the western world, but I have a horrible feeling it probably is.
posted by The Monkey at 9:26 PM on October 18, 2009
« Older Let the hype rumpus start! | Do you want to die in jail? Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:27 PM on October 17, 2009