Lou Dobbs Describes Meatless Mondays In Schools As "A Political Storm In The Making"

On Monday night, Lou Dobbs did a segment on how "Meatless Monday" is being adopted by the Baltimore city school district in an effort to cut costs and get children to eat healthier food. The segment showed schoolchildren eating vegetarian chili and grilled cheese sandwiches, and CNN reported that they found no parents who objected to the policy.

The news network also noted opposition to the one-day-a-week of vegetarian food by the American Meat Institute -- a trade group that represents meat processors and packers with obvious financial interests in meat consumption. Without pointing out factors that helped fuel the initiative, such as childhood obesity and a national school budget crisis, CNN reported that the AMI is concerned that "students are being served up an unhealthy dose of indoctrination." The institute's Janet Reilly claims the policy was depriving students and parents of "choice."

After watching the segment, Dobbs described this as "a real political storm in the making." Um. Really?

Embedded video from CNN Video

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Comments

[KristinNoelle]

07:36 PM on 12/15/2009

Why are so many people under the impression that each meal must include meat to be complete? I remember my grandmother telling me that when she was growing up they only ate meat about twice a week, and it was fresh from the butcher shop, not Kraft deli slices. The rest of the time they ate soup, potatoes, home made bread, and vegetables. She's now 95 and still lives independently.

[BAVegan]

12:36 AM on 12/05/2009

The American Meat Institute says "75% of our children don't get enough protein." Give me a break! Have you ever heard of an American suffering from a protein deficiency? How about diabetes, cancer, heart disease, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol etc. You only get cholesterol in animal products. There is no cholesterol in fruits and vegetables. Eating vegetarian is good for us, good for the animals and good for the planet!

[skepticarpenter]

11:22 PM on 10/29/2009

I don't get it, Dobbs rail against illegal aliens daily, and now he wants the Meat Industry to not miss a day selling to our public schools- everyone knows who works in meat packing industry??!!

[tom90069]

03:32 PM on 10/28/2009

no meat will do some of those kids some good.

[brady61995]

07:39 PM on 10/25/2009

how about a d.obb.sless m - f even better

[Schoolgirl666]

09:47 AM on 10/25/2009

Hey, Lou, you're not complaining that they already had a meatless Friday, too. Check out the menu.

http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/School_Info/Lunch/PDF/HS_10_09.pdf

[ckmotorka]

12:56 AM on 10/25/2009

How about meatless Monday through Friday?

[AKaurora]

06:29 PM on 10/23/2009

I consider our current strongly meat-eating diet to be due to lobbiests and not due to good dietary practices. I will never be a true vegetarian; however, it doesn't mean that my way is "better." Our populace is subjected to enormous amounts of television commercials and we're now into two full generations whose idea of nutrition is framed by fast food ads, be it pizza, hamburgers, french fries, or soft drinks. I volunteer at a food bank, and it's a weekly event of finding out how much random people have no idea how to cook from scratch. Most struggle with the box mixes. Teaching our kids good nutrition, which includes six ozs. of protein a day -- in a multitude of forms, will encourage alternative possible eating choices when at home.

[azdisabledsci]

05:26 PM on 10/23/2009

I think they are offering beans & rice, fruit & veggies. billions of people use beans & rice as a complete protein source every day. We do not NEED to eat meat. Plus they are offering healthy alternatives. many kids on subsidized lunch programs might not eat any fruits or vegetables otherwise since they are more likely to be in poverty. The "meat institute" can bite me. All they care about is profilts.

[steveinohio]

04:21 PM on 10/23/2009

They are serving nutritious meals that cost less...why on earth would this be an issue? They are saving the taxpayers' money by providing something of equal or better quality at lower cost, I don't see why that's even political, that's just smart.

[Scarborian]

02:28 PM on 10/23/2009

Is it OK with Lou if I eat a cheese sandwich on Tuesday instead of Monday?

How about a TV Free Monday instead?

[Dennim]

08:05 AM on 10/23/2009

Lou, please, help the industry out - eat more meat!

[HopeGrenade]

03:35 PM on 10/22/2009

I'm not so positive vegan or vegetarian stuff is necessarily healthier. I mean, couldn't they have health meals monday? And in that case, why not make it healthy meals...every day. Equating healthy food with vegetarian food doesn't seem like the best idea. Because vegetarian food is nasty.

[Neolib777]

02:16 PM on 10/23/2009

I agree that blanket statements like "equating healthy food with vegetarian food" is not always correct but then you say "vegetarian food is nasty" which shows your own prejudice.

It is a fact that the average american consumes more meat than recommended, about 5-6 oz per day for an adult - http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/meat_amount.aspx# . So decreasing the amount of meat is healthier.

If you won't do it for the health benefits, consider that it takes 16 pounds of grain and 2,500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat . Would you consider eating one pound less per week to conserve water, allow the 16 pounds of grain to feed others and help our environment with such a small sacrifice?

[HopeGrenade]

03:34 PM on 10/23/2009

Moderation is ALWAYS the answer. No, I wouldn't accept eating a food I like less because I'll save some water. If I'm going to buy food with my own money, it's going to be whatever I want it to be.

And Whole Foods president himself says he sells a bunch of junk. The vegan ground beef I've seen in the store has more chemicals than I expect to see in household cleaners, much less what I put into me. If you're eating chicken nuggets and McDonalds every day, yeah, that's bad for you. But if you're eating junk food, no matter if it's vegan or vegetarian or holistic or whatever, it's still junk food.

Just eat healthier. If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat.

[leilani99]

12:00 PM on 10/22/2009

I am proof of the benefits of veganism-I am a healthy active woman with a healthy weight, high good cholesterol, and low bad cholesterol, healthy blood pressure, and no health issues. My family history includes diabetes and high blood pressure but only the animal eaters in my family have these problems. Lou think about the health benefits that the children will reap from a meatless diet, not to mention the social and psychological benefits of treating all life in a humane way, and not contributing to the heinous abuse of animals in the factory farming system.

[HopeGrenade]

03:32 PM on 10/22/2009

Because, you know, all you need to prove something is anecdotal evidence from one person. I think that's how science works.

[colossus]

02:45 PM on 10/23/2009

Because smarminess is much better than anecdotal evidence that didn't claim to be based on science but personal experience.

[KristinNoelle]

07:33 PM on 12/15/2009

I wouldn't talk. You haven't thrown out anything but anecdotal evidence yourself.

[SangZe]

11:35 AM on 10/22/2009

Oh, the ignorance and stupidity of the American people. It's almost overwhelming. And we wonder why Americans are so obese and in poor health.