Beginning next spring, 15 schools in Brooklyn — a sliver of the 1,800 public schools in New York City — will participate in the Meatless Monday campaign by serving vegetarian breakfasts and lunches, city officials announced. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the mayor’s residence, Gracie Mansion, also would go meatless for its Monday meals.
School chancellor Carmen Farina said, “Meatless Mondays is one more way in which we are using school meals as a teachable moment to educate students on the importance of making healthy choices.” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who battled Type 2 diabetes last year, said the initiative “has the power to transform the health of thousands of our city’s students, as well as open the door to a powerful conversation that children can have with families on nutrition and wellness.”
The city education department will pick the 15 participating schools based on interest and the ability to incorporate an all-vegetarian menu into the school menu. “Schools included in the program will receive customized menus each with vegetarian entrees. There is no additional cost to the city,” said the mayor’s office. De Blasio, Farina and Adams announced the initiative at PS 1 in Sunset Park, one of five schools in the city system that serves an exclusively vegetarian menu every day. The school serves items such as spinach wraps, vegetarian chili, roasted chickpea tagine, black bean quesadillas, crispy tofu, zucchini parmigiana, and margherita pizza.
The Meatless Monday campaign, which aims for health and environmental benefits, began in 2003 in the United States and “is now active in 44 countries and continues to grow,” says its website.