Manhattan Meatless Monday

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a report last week, FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System, which proposes implementing a Meatless Monday program in the city’s public schools. The proposal is currently being reviewed by the New York City Department of Education. Stringer, who edited the 2008 Go Green East Harlem Cookbook, says that one in five kindergartners is clinically obese, and Meatless Mondays would teach students about the benefits of increasing the amount of veggies they eat. Last year, Baltimore’s public schools became the first district in the nation to adopt the program. The Baltimore school district reports that Meatless Mondays have become the most popular cafeteria day, and preparation of vegetarian meals costs 20 cents less than meals with meat.