Opinion:
Meaningless meatless Mondays
by Morgan Ledermann, posted Dec. 15, 2009
A new lunch menu feature, “Meatless Mondays,” is drawing attention. This catchy phrase refers to the new program instituted in the Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) and affects 85,000 students.
Meatless Mondays is a new program of the Grace Spira Project and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, two major opponents of modern agriculture. This program takes the meat out of Monday school lunches, sending the message to kids, families, and the public that meat is bad.
Justin Ryder, graduate student in exercise physiology, thinks the emphasis should be on making healthy eating choices instead of meatless.
As an advocate for agriculture, I fully support and promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables. But I also support and promote eating meat. Meat is rich in vitamins and protein. Farmers and ranchers work very hard to raise healthy animals for safe and delicious meat. Just as certain fruits and vegetables offer different nutritional benefits, so do different kinds of meat including beef, chicken, pork and lamb.
“A healthful diet includes a variety of foods from all the food groups,” said Robin Gammon, registered dietitian from the University of Missouri Extension.
Anthony Geraci, director of food and nutrition services for BCPS, had a mission when he came to Baltimore — to change the school food system. He believes kids will eat good food if they are exposed to it.The kids demanded fresh food, real food every day according to Geraci.
“One of the most powerful tools to teach children about food is to reconnect them with food,” Geraci said at a hearing in front of the U.S. House of Representatives, Examining Innovative Practices to Improve Child Nutrition on Oct. 8, 2009.
Geraci spoke of the small farm that has been started for the Baltimore schools. At the farm, students grow their own food. I would agree that a garden is an excellent way to “reconnect” with food but it is not the only way.
Geraci referred to a child walking down a row of tomatoes, plucking one off the vine, popping it into his or her mouth, and feeling it squish and squirt juice. Why can’t this “reconnection” also be extended to farm animals? Sensation doesn’t stop at the fruit trees or the tomato vines. Livestock brings sensation to food as well. This sensation could be a cow nibbling grain from a child’s hand or collecting fresh, warm eggs from chickens or rubbing the rough skin of a pig. These are all sensations that connect people to their food.
Many children are curious about alternative diet choices such as vegetarian, Geraci said. As a self-proclaimed meat eater and lover himself, I don’t see why Geraci would not want to educate kids about meat rather than “cave” to misconceptions about meat. Within the curiosity of children, whose minds are full of questions, lie opportunities to expose them to the health benefits of meat.
According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a 2005 analysis showed eating beef helps people achieve daily nutrient requirements. Compared to non-beef eaters, beef eaters were 11 percent more likely to meet protein requirements, 24 percent more likely to meet vitamin B12 requirements, 13 percent more likely to meet iron requirements, and 26 percent more likely to meet zinc requirements.
“Meat, and beef in particular, is the most protein- and nutrient-rich food,” said Daren R. Williams, executive director of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
If Geraci knows so much about agriculture, farming, ranching and the like, why is he promoting a restrictive diet?
Looking at the food pyramid, meat and dairy make up one entire level. This is level three out of four. This level includes milk, yogurt, and cheese that should be consumed in two to three servings each day. Accordingly, meats and fish should also be consumed in two to three servings each day in order to maintain a healthy diet.
I’m thankful to Geraci for applauding farmers for their hard work and labor of love. This lifestyle is not easy but it is essential to us all.
While many people dedicate their lives to growing fruits and vegetables, many also dedicate theirs to producing meat. Why not support the hard work and dedication of all farmers and ranchers on a daily basis? There is no reason to remove animal protein every Monday.
But based on articles and interviews with Geraci, he doesn’t see Meatless Mondays as a way to deny children meat. He sees Meatless Mondays as a way to expose children to plant-based protein. If children can’t eat meat, they have to get protein from another source such as beans. Using an alternative protein source, according to Geraci, then expands the knowledge and taste buds of children. Geraci hopes that by denying meat and incorporating more produce, the perspectives of school children will broaden. He hopes this will overflow to parents as kids start recognizing healthy foods at the grocery store.
“While I think it’s important to educate kids in schools, more often than not kids’ eating habits fall upon the parents to show their children how to live healthy,” Ryder said. “If the parents eat meat every night for dinner, their kids will probably grow up doing the same.”
But restriction is not necessary for diversity in a diet.
Referring to the process of raising meat for consumption, it is “death with a purpose,” says Trent Luce, reporter for Feedstuffs in an interview with Geraci.
I think this concept applies to plants and animals. Just as plants are alive and growing, harvest is their death. Similarly, animals such as cows and pigs and chickens grow up on farms being fed and tended to until it is their time to be slaughtered.
Geraci says the Meatless Mondays program is about beginning a conversation about alternatives and about change. I feel Geraci is taking the wrong approach to agricultural education.
Even though he supports meat and is very aware of the agricultural industry, many people are not. Many people hear Meatless Mondays and sensationalize this program with the vegetarian all-natural modern lifestyles that are considered “in” by pop culture.
“This program is biased toward plant production by implying that vegetable production is so much safer than meat production,” said Russel Miller, senior animal science major and Mizzou Beef Club president and Tri-Chair of Steer and Heifer Show. “They should provide the option to the students of whether or not they want the 'meatless' meal because it is not right for the school to force students to not eat meat.”
Why not talk about meat and its benefit in addition to fruits and vegetables? Why not teach people? Why not free people of their misconceptions of agriculture? Instead, Geraci is giving in to the emotional judgments people make about meat.
Creativity in agricultural advocacy is important as well. And, it can lead to greater understanding. But Geraci is going about education and advocacy in the wrong way.
These children are learning a lot about fruits and vegetables, about gardening and harvesting, but they are missing out on meat production and consumption.
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