Mondays Now Meatless in San Francisco
Monday is now “Veg Day” in San Francisco, thanks to a brand new piece of legislation on the books. Although not a mandate, the resolution, introduced by San Francisco supervisor Sophie Maxwell, encourages “all restaurants, grocery stores, and schools to offer a greater variety of plant based options to improve the health of San Francisco residents and visitors, and to increase awareness of the impact a GREEN DIET [sic] would be on our planet.”
The town of Ghent, Belgium, made headlines last May when Mayor Tom Balthazar declared Thursday “Veggiedag.” Since then, Baltimore City public schools have adopted a Meatless Monday cafeteria menu (with rumors that New York City Department of Education may follow suit in the not-too-distant future).
But Maxwell’s resolution marks the first locally legislated effort of this kind in the country.
The above video clip comes from “The O’Reilly Factor” show, in which host Laura Ingraham takes on animal rights activist Hope Bohanec about the S.F. resolution. Ingraham argued that the resolution is elitist and that California legislators should be spending their time focused on the budget crisis .
When this news broke, we were in the middle of the T&T Challenge, but I’m now hungry for your thoughts: What’s your take on San Francisco’s newly passed “Veg Day?” Should local government be spearheading efforts that call attention to our diet? Will other cities follow in San Francisco’s meatless footsteps or is this just a fluke in a city known for being unconventional?
Weigh in, please! I can’t wait to get this conversation started.
P.S. This just in: The Johns Hopkins Hospital has just announced a Meatless Monday cafeteria menu starting today.
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
I don’t see how this is a big deal, to encourage restaurants to offer more (not “only”) meat-free options on a menu once a week and to get people talking. I don’t see it as “elitist” either. What I don’t understand is why it’s legislated; it’s not THE LAW to avoid meat on Monday, just a suggestion, so why is it on the books at all?
Is this Meatless Monday faux-mandate going to be similar to seeing/reacting to a pregnant woman sipping a glass of wine in restaurants, when someone orders a meated entree on a Monday?
Please, don’t get me wrong – I love it. I love the schools and hospitals adopting healthier menus and cooking practices in the name of Meatless Monday. I just don’t understand the involvement of the local government. Sure, it’s very nice to make a proclaimation, but it’s also creating polarized opinions for those always on the lookout for “too much government involvement.” I’m afraid THAT will be the issue, and many will miss the larger point of having a healthier diet and variety of eating practices.
(P.S. Just take that middle paragraph out of there – it doesn’t really add to the comment. Sorry that I can’t edit, post posting.)
I gotta tell you that while it’s certainly a lofty ideal to drive awareness via political means, I think the SF Supervisors have bigger fish to fry (pun intended) than whether or not restaurants are serving more veggie dishes. It’s one thing to legislate a ban on plastic grocery bags, it’s quite another to “suggest” we go meatless on Mondays. (And why Monday, I have to ask? Were they worried that had they suggested Friday people would have been up in arms about pandering to devout Catholics?)
C’mon. We’ve got a state budget that is imploding faster than a black hole and threatening to suck all of us into the vortex, and a mayor who has one foot out the door campaigning for Lt. Governor. I’d say this is a distraction from way more pressing issues.
I wouldn’t get too excited by the Johns Hopkins’ announcement. If you follow their links, you’ll find that it’s just in one corner of their cafe, the corner called “Wellness”. The rest of the cafe contains something called “Flamers” where you can get your bacon cheeseburger, not to mention a bagel place and a Subway’s, etc.
I’m skeptical about government intervention, especially considering the unintended consequences we’ve seen over the years: First we ate too much protein and fat and got heart disease, then we ate too many carbs, too little fat and became obese and diabetic, both times following government advice.
In NYC, our mayor is most active. The result? At school bake sales, kids will have to sell authorized junk food rather than home baked goods because the junk food will be made to government mandated specs. Boo! Hiss!
[...] a cue from the Ghent-lemen in Belgium, San Francisco has passed Meat Free Monday legislation, Meat Free Monday legislation-the first of its kind in the United [...]
[...] Veg Out: Mondays are meatless in San Francisco. [True/Slant] [...]
I’m a little conflicted about this. I loved the Meatless Mondays of your former column and try to incorporate more vegetarian meals into the rotation. Ditto for school lunches and hospitals. Still…
I get a bit uncomfortable once resolutions are heading down from the City Council. Restaurants are going to have to include a variety of meals. Knocking out all of the dishes with meat is going to mean an extra day of age on anything sold on Tuesday. Does a feel good resolution really do that much?
DC is in the throes of a charcuterie fad right now, so a shift a way from high salt, high fat meats is no bad thing. If Jamie Oliver or Michelle Obama, for example, is pushing it, I get better feelings than if it’s coming from the Department of Public Nutrition.
BB
[...] Mondays Now Meatless in San Francisco – Kim O’Donnel – Licking Your Chops – … [...]