First U.S. Public School Goes Vegan!

Photo via huffingtonpost.com

Public School 244 (The Active Learning Elementary School) is America's first public school to adopt an all-vegetarian menu!  This month's issue of Vegetarian Times published an article about this New York City elementary school, where 400 students have options such as seasoned chickpeas, tofu spinach wraps, vegetarian chili, and black bean-and-cheddar quesadillas for school lunch.  Their menu went completely meatless in January, and was a gradual effort that started with vegetarian offerings twice a week.  The menus grew from their with input from the students and their parents.

My favorite quote from the article comes from 3rd grader, Seth Wang (9 years old): "I have three dogs and two cats.  I love my pets and wouldn't want to eat them, so why would I want to eat other animals?"

Another third grader, Bence Kalan (also 9), says "There are so many other things to eat" besides meat that are "healthier, taste good, and don't [contribute to ] animals being killed."  If these children are our future, I think we are doing great!  Kudos to PS 244 for starting a wave of change that I hope catches on in other parts of the U.S. and starts a trend for our public school lunch menus.  Who's with me?

Check out the September issue of Vegetarian Times for the full article or click here to read a similar article from TakePart.com about the school.