SARASOTA, Fla. -- Beginning October 6th, the Sarasota County Schools will begin serving only meat-free dishes in school cafeterias on Mondays.
Students will be able to fill their trays with such dishes as hummus and vegetable subs, veggie pasta bakes, spaghetti marinara and fiesta taco salads. Meatless Mondays are planned for the remainder of the school year; vegetarian dishes will continue to be offered as options for students dining on other days as well.
The Meatless Monday campaign, now a popular international movement, was created by the U.S. government as a resource-saving measure during World War I. It was revived in 2003 by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Monday Campaigns to promote abstaining from meat one day a week for personal health and for the health of the planet.
The Monday Campaigns is a non-profit public health initiative associated with Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Syracuse universities that dedicates the first day of every week to health. Every Monday, individuals and organizations join together to commit to the healthy behaviors that can help end chronic preventable diseases. The Humane Society of the United States also promotes the health benefits and other positive effects of eating more plant-based foods.
