School Vegetarian Incorporation

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A large percentage of vegetarian parents choose to ship their children off to school with a packed lunch rather than have them accept the schools’ meager or virtually non-existent vegetarian offerings. There are many reasons that schools should provide vegetarian options as part of their regular menu. Some of the children who forgo school lunch are actually from families that are income eligible free or reduced school lunch. Another benefit is that in the current trend toward healthy eating, more children would be exposed to non-meat items thus making vegetarianism less out of the ordinary while expanding the whole student body’s selection of healthy choices.

A first step toward initiating healthy vegetarian options is to inform the dining facility of your child’s needs. Many school lunch personnel attempt to be accommodating. I personally experienced such efforts on behalf of my son several years ago as well as for myself more recently as a substitute teacher when I was a customer in the school cafeteria.

When my son was in a public middle school, we would scan the weekly school lunch menu found in the weekend edition of the local Morning Sentinel. Occasionally the menus would prove to be incorrect, which would even further limit my son’s choices on those days. Another problem was that the lunch server would insist that each child including my son take some of every thing offered. This was demanded even after my son’s explanation that he was a vegetarian. Well, after expressing my concerns with my son’s teacher, I was assured that if a suitable vegetarian option was not offered on any given day, a substitute peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be offered and he would no longer have to accept the non-vegetarian food items. Looking back now, I realize that I should have immediately contacted the dietary management directly instead of being worried about making waves. This scenario makes the sad but realistic point that superiors including school personnel typically pay more attention to the wishes and demands of adults than that of young children. That being said, children need adult advocates to stand up for them in all areas of life including the all-important issue of humane food choices and availability thereof.

As a substitute teacher at a local high school, I came to realize the importance of specificity regarding dietary needs. One school I subbed at had very few non-meat items. In the cafeteria, I usually had to settle for some fast food fried item. Even the salads had chunks of chicken thrown in. I mentioned to a compassionate food worker that I was a vegetarian after she noticed my struggle at finding agreeable fare. The next day, the kind lunch lady handed me a chicken free salad. The only problem was that is was topped with cheese. Because I didn’t want to insult her good intentions, I accepted the salad then tediously scraped each shred of cheese off. This action could have been avoided if I would have initially detailed my requirements.

After informing the food service administration of your vegetarian or vegan requirements, offering a few cost effective vegetarian/vegan suggestions can bring in foods that can be incorporated into the menu. A variety of fruits and vegetables, meatless pasta, dairy-free pizza and vegetarian baked beans are some simple foods that the whole school can enjoy and benefit from. Vegetarian parents can also provide a variety of resources including recipes and web links such as http://www.choiceusa.net/ The web site of CHOICE Citizens For Healthy Options In Children’s Education which is a information clearing house for school vegetarian incorporation as well as a possible funding source for implementation of programs.

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