ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Meatless Meals - First Vegetarian Public School

Updated on May 12, 2013
P.S. 244
P.S. 244 | Source

Leaving out the meat

No more mystery meat at P.S. 244. In fact, there is no more meat at all offered at this Flushing, Queens public school. Public School 244, the Active Learning Elementary School, opened in 2008. The school serves just over 400 children from pre-kindergarten through grade three. It appears to be the first public school in the nation which offers only vegetarian meal choices.

When administrators noticed a higher than average number of vegetarian meal choices in the cafeteria, they began offering vegetarian fare three times a week. Many of the students in this multi-ethnic and diverse socioeconomic school are already eating mostly vegetarian meals at home.

Vegetarian meal choices do not include meat but do include grains, vegetables, fruits, eggs and dairy products. There are many different sub-categories of vegetarian lifestyles which include different food consumption choices. Ovo-vegetarians do not consume dairy products but do eat eggs. Lacto-vegetarians do not eat eggs but do eat dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese. Strict vegans do not consume any animal products including dairy, honey, eggs or beeswax.

The school campus became a test kitchen in partnership with the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food organization. The cafeteria began by offering vegetarian meals three days a week. Once the success of having vegetarian meals three days a week was established, the cafeteria switched from all vegetarian fare three days a week to four days a week. In January 2013 the school cafeteria went fully vegetarian.

The USDA’s standards for school lunches continues to be followed so students still receive the recommended amounts of protein and nutrients. All school meals including both breakfast and lunch are required to meet dietary minimum and maximum specifications of calories, nutrients, saturated fat and sodium.

These USDA dietary standards are calculated on the age and grade of the students and offer varying specifications based on these factors and the type of meal being offered. Breakfast choices typically offer slightly lower calorie counts than lunch meals and the amounts of calories, proteins, and sodium allowances will vary.

Source

Vegetarian offerings

The school offers such choices as black bean quesadillas, falafel, vegetarian chili, cucumber salad, plantains, roasted potatoes, salsa, and brown rice. There are choices available to the students such as salads or alternate meals such as the childhood standard PB&J. The school has tried different recipes and foods to see what the children enjoy that remain adherent to the nutritional guidelines. They look for feedback on the meals from the students.

Because P.S.244 is a test kitchen school, students convinced school chefs to switch from large, square, unseasoned chunks of tofu to smaller, seasoned bite sized pieces. They now receive items such as noodles served with tofu either roasted in Asian sesame sauce or seasoned with jerk sauce.

A typical breakfast menu would offer whole-grain sunrise carrot bread with hot cereal or a fluffy egg omelet with melted cheese. Waffles with warm syrup also make an appearance at breakfast time. Fresh fruits, cereals, juices, and milk are also offered with a standard breakfast meal.

Although the food choices may seem both exotic and exceptional, one must remember that this isn’t either an upscale restaurant or a posh private school. This is a Queens, NY public school, P.S. 244, and the first known public school in the nation to provide an all-vegetarian cafeteria. Most public elementary schools in New York offer some vegetarian options but only about half the schools are currently offering salad bars. The current guidelines utilize fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, but most main dishes, and the protein requirements, still come from meat.

This isn’t about taking away choices for the children or forcing them to adapt to a lifestyle they (or their parents) don’t choose. The menu offers childhood staples such as peanut-butter & jelly or cheese sandwiches as alternatives on a daily basis. Fridays remain pizza day, albeit without the pepperoni. It appears that most parents, and the students, have greeted this change with warmth and even enthusiasm. For those families who wish different meal choices, children are encouraged and welcome to bring a bagged lunch from home.

Happy lunch
Happy lunch | Source

Healthy school recipes

Eating healthy foods and getting exercise promotes better attention, better health, and better grades. A healthy diet can reduce the risk of many diseases and help one maintain a better weight. Brain function may be increased and the immune system boosted. The benefits of eating better are many and can last a lifetime.

While there are many healthy food choices available, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables remain at the top of the list. The New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHFS) has provided a website with recipes. A number of these recipes can be found in public schools across the state.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)