Mum slams 'senseless' complaints decision over 'Meat Free Mondays'

A mum has slammed her child's school's decision on 'Meat Free' lunches, saying it 'doesn't make any sense'. Posting on Mumsnet, the parent explained the decision was made by a school trust following complaints from parents.

However, she's unhappy with the school's decision to change the menu. Her post was titled: "School stopping Meat Free Monday doesn't make any sense." In it, she claimed: "Our school trust has recently stopped being part of Meat Free Monday for school lunches. The school have said some parents complained about it. The school is very focused on being environmentally conscious- crisps not allowed as a break time snack due to potential errant packets, single-use plastic actively discouraged, etc. I can't see a single reason why a school or a parent would have any issue with lunches being meat-free for one day a week, but maybe I'm missing something?" As such, she invited Mumsnet users to weigh in on the matter and vote whether she was unreasonable. In the comments, the parent said: "They've said it's to do with some parents not liking it, but didn't specify why.

"The food choices on meat-free days were not any more processed than offerings on other days, i.e., not fake meat."

In another response, she added, " There is still a veggie option every day, but they've just stopped being part of Meat-Free Monday, when no one was offered meat."

The post prompted a range of responses from commenters who fell on both sides of the debate. A parent replied, "If there are meat-free options every day, then they don't really need to also do Meat-Free Monday."

Another response said: "These sorts of initiatives are all very laudable, but if the children don't like what's on offer, and the parents are voting with their money, then the school is stuck."

Meanwhile, a parent shared: "I have a child who is very funny about food. With a meat option and a vegetarian option, we had about a 1 in 2 chance that he would eat one of the meals, and the rest of the time, he would have to have a pack-up. For us, "meat-free Monday" meant "pack-up Monday."

Someone else wrote: "I get the reasoning behind it and, and it wouldn't bother me in the slightest, but I do also see where some parents are coming from.

"Their child eats meat-why do they have to do a meat-free Monday with no other option with meat in it? If your child were vegan/vegetarian and Tuesday was meat only with no vegetarian option, you wouldn't be happy.

"So why is it okay to have a day where meat eaters have no choice but to eat meat, but it's not okay for vegetarians to have a day where they have no choice but to only eat meat?"