A public school in NYC has announced their successful transition towards becoming the nation’s first public school to offer an all-vegetarian cuisine.
According to NBC News on Wednesday, the shift from chicken nuggets and pepperoni to tofu and bananas happened sometime in January, but the school was watching to see how the experiment turned out before they went public with the information. Current offerings include cheese pizza, pasta, fruits, vegetables and bean salad.
The elementary school says they made the transition slowly by increasing the vegetarian offerings one day at a time until they fully transitioned into a meatless cafeteria.
The population of the school, which serves Kindergarten through third grade, consists largely of children from Indian and Asian descents, so the move wasn’t as much of a cultural shock as it might have been in a different American city.
Robert Groff, principal for public school 244, said that most of the parents are pleased with the healthy change and of the few who aren’t, he recommended they send their children to school with a bagged lunch. Groff also said he’s taken some cues from Mayor Bloomberg to provide “the healthiest option for our kids” and that he’s proud of the change.