Islandia, NY — Whitsons Culinary Group®, a provider of nutrition services for public schools throughout the Northeast, has announced the launch of the Meatless Monday health initiative in all school districts Whitsons services. Meatless Monday is a global campaign that encourages students to enjoy meat-free meals on Mondays. Studies have shown that increasing plant-based proteins in your diet may reduce the risk of chronic preventable conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Choosing to go plant-based, even one day a week, can also help reduce our carbon footprint and save precious resources like fossil fuels and fresh water.
“Whitsons is proud to be a part of the Meatless Monday campaign. It perfectly complements our Simply Rooted™ philosophy of promoting healthy foods, a healthy environment, and balanced diets,” said Kelly Friend, Chief Operating Officer of Whitsons. “We are not taking away the option of meat on Mondays, we are simply making sure we are featuring and promoting a student-friendly vegetarian option. When students are looking for something hearty like a burger, we encourage them to try vegetarian burger options such as our classic garden or black bean burger. We prepare them just like we would a traditional burger and offer a variety of healthy toppings to keep it interesting,” said Friend.
In recent customer surveys conducted by Whitsons, students expressed an interest in having more meatless, plant-based menu options such as vegetarian and vegan which has been a growing trend with Generation Z. More students prefer replacing animal products with plant-based alternatives. "Our collaboration with Whitsons School Nutrition will provide students and staff in over 95 school districts in the Northeast with delicious meatless options every Monday throughout the school year. We hope the implementation of Meatless Monday in schools with Whitsons dining services will inspire students to start each week taking small steps that can instill healthy habits for life," said Cherry Dumaual, Partnerships Director at The Monday Campaigns.
About Whitsons Culinary Group
Whitsons Culinary Group provides a wide range of highly customized dining services to public schools, with a strong focus on nutritious, high-quality meals made from wholesome, fresh ingredients. Whitsons has a long and proud history of excellence and growth since 1979 and is setting new standards for the foodservice industry with wholesome foods and family values. For more information, please visit www.whitsons.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter.
About Meatless Monday/The Monday Campaigns
Meatless Monday is a nonprofit public health initiative founded by Sid Lerner, chairman of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. The global campaign encourages the public to cut back on meat consumption one day a week to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer, and lessen the environmental impact of meat production on climate change, water and land use. The campaign is founded on research that demonstrates Monday is the day we are most primed to start and sustain a healthy new behavior. Since its launch 15 years ago, Meatless Monday has become an international movement in more than 40 countries. For free recipes and other resources, visit www.meatlessmonday.com.
The Monday Campaigns works in association with The Lerner Centers for Public Health Promotion at Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Syracuse universities. The initiatives of The Monday Campaigns dedicate the first day of every week to health, and support a global movement of individuals and organizations committed to public health and ending preventable diseases.
Source: Whitsons Culinary Group
