"Where's the Beef?" Revisited

After last week's post, I'd given the issue a little more thought.  A quick summary for those who might have missed it and don't want to click back - basically, Bowdoin College in Maine decided to institute a Meatless Monday in their dining hall, and many students protested.  I couldn't decide whose side I was on.  For those of you who read the post, I know it seemed like I ended up siding with the administration.  I just wanted to clarify that that was where my train of thought kind of trailed off; not the final decision I came to.

Brian made a compelling argument:

Suppose they offered a "veggie-less day" where every single thing offered had meat in it. That would probably upset the vegetarians. So, eliminating meat for us carnivores is like having a day without an entree. Limiting an entire class of food from the menu is especially pertinent for people who are on restricted diets who have to limit their carb intake, or who have wheat, gluten, soy, or peanut allergies.

Although I don't agree that it is quite the same (but that argument is for a different time), I see his point. 

Regardless, the more I thought about it, what I see is that the real issue is that Bowdoin's goal was to encourage students to make what they see as a positive lifestyle change.  It just seems as though they didn't really think their plan through using any sort of social/behavioral change model.  Although there's research to support it (too lazy to look it up), it's really common knowledge that most people (especially teenagers and college students) don't like to be told what's good for them or what to do.  If anything, forcing the issue of Meatless Mondays probably backfired for a significant part of the student population, because they will view it resentfully as "stupid" because they feel it was forced on them.

It might have worked better to make Meatless Monday enticing, but not mandatory...have some eye-catching, compelling publicity in the dining halls.  Offer an incentive to eat Meatless on Monday.  On Mondays, serve your very most delicious vegetarian dish, and your crappiest meat dish. This way, you get students to think about it and make a conscious choice if and when they are ready to.  You also give them the option to "try it out" if they want to, without feeling forced.


Truthfully, going one day a week without meat is not hard.  At all.  It takes a little bit of planning because you're designating a particular day, but the same would be true if we designated Fish Friday (which some of y'all do) or Pancake Sunday.  Kevin and I often find ourselves eating several meatless meals in a week, just because that's what we like to eat.  Mac and cheese, spaghetti, many Indian dishes.  But I totally get that if it's shoved down your throat (literally, I guess), you're going to want to fight it.

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

Tonight, per our friend Jeff's suggestion, we tried Giada De Laurentiis' Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese.  Only, ours was rotini with all of that stuff, because we didn't have any penne.  I am also embarrassed to admit that I had to use dried basil instead of fresh, because I was too lazy to stop and pick up fresh.  Despite this, it was still delicious - I can only imagine how much better it would be if I had used the fresh basil.

You can see how fast Kevin is scooping that up!

It was relatively easy to make, just a little time consuming because of the time it takes to roast the squash.  Next time, I might try roasting the squash and onions on Sunday, so I could just heat them and stir them in.

Squash and onions, ready to roast!

You'll notice that I said "next time," because this recipe is now on Kevin's "Favorites" List for Meatless Monday.

The recipe predicts 6 servings, and we found that it made 6 quite generous servings.  Jeff assures this that this will be a tasty lunch for many days, so we will let you know!

Where's the Beef?

I wonder if I exploited that blog title (a nod to an early 80's Wendy's commercial, for you youngin's) too soon?  With Meatless Mondays, there could be countless more opportunities.

I'm sorry, as soon as I realized that some people might be too young to know about the Wendy's commercial, I had to go find it for you:

Thanks for bearing with me.  It's important that pop-culture be passed on to future generations.

ANYWAY.

"Where's the beef?" is a question students at Bowdoin College in Maine were asking recently when the college decided to implement "Meatless Monday" in its on-campus dining establishments.  A number of students (I couldn't find anything indicating a specific number) were outraged, and protested the lack of animal flesh in the dining hall, including holding a beefy barbecue right outside the premises.  Apparently, they resent having their dietary choices controlled by the dictatorial college dining services.  Okay, truthfully, it was the administration as a whole, but the image of dining service dictators made me smile a little.  In any case, you can more informed takes on it here and here.

My reactions to this:

Initially, I thought something like, "Well, that's great that they've overcome apathy enough to protest something, but really?  Meatless Monday?"  Then, I thought they were somewhat justified.  What right does the college have to impose its food values on their students?  It is certainly appropriate for the school to encourage Meatless Monday the same way it might encourage wearing pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, but to essentially force them into it?  Even if there are off-campus dining options nearby, students with a dining plan shouldn't have to pay again for a meal they want to eat.

But then, I realize that not just college students, but anyone who works anywhere or goes anywhere is subject to complying with or at least participating in the organization's values system.  Usually, no one cares until it effects something that you care about.  For example, our college's dining services uses almost exclusively plates and cups made from recycled materials, and is beginning to incorporate locally produced food when its feasible.  I think it's awesome, and so do others, but I'm sure there's a lot of folks who are quite indifferent.  No one is saying, "Darnit, I really wanted to eat my meal off of styrofoam today!" And even if people think that climate change and all this environmental stuff is a bunch of hooey and a waste, they still don't really care. But the College is imposing its environmental values on these students.  Organizations impose their values with everything they do.

In his or her comment on the Sierra Club Blog, Cris said it much more succinctly:

Is it up to the students to select the menu items on any other day? Why would they need to approve a mac & cheese dinner on Monday (or whatever they have) any more than they need to approve having hotdogs on Thursdays or not having fried chicken on Wednesdays or orange juice for breakfast, or not having cherry pie on Tuesdays!

Excellent point!  Then, when I was in college, on almost any given day, I could protest that I didn't have the right to eat tater tots with chili and cheese, one of my dining hall guilty pleasures.  And there was always at least one day a week when there was no strawberry cream cake, oh, I can still taste the sweet berries, moist cake and rich filling, kissed with fluffy whipped cream.  Wasn't it my right to eat that cake any day I wanted to?  Should I have protested by...uh, I guess eating strawberry cake right outside the dining hall?

IUP alum, I know you forgot about that cake until just now, and your mouth is watering, too!

So, I'm not sure what I think about this.  I wonder if it would ever fly where I work now.  What do y'all think?

Introducing: Meatless Mondays

I guess "Meatless Mondays" is a project that we actually have quite a good handle on.  We've been doing it consistently for probably over a year, although we sometimes swap our Monday for another day (ruining the alliteration), or give ourselves a by-week when we're traveling. 

Why Meatless Monday?