When chicken suddenly appeared on Monday’s lunch menu, Branson students were left wondering what had happened to the historically meatless day. The verdict is in: “Meatless Monday is officially gone,” Executive Chef Charles Barksdale said.
That is, for now at least. Director of Culinary Services and Executive Chef Marcus Trigg explained that future plans for Meatless Monday are still under discussion.
“It’s not officially gone, per se, but it is being paused for the moment while we figure out a better way to present those options,” Trigg said.
According to Barksdale, the decision to pause Meatless Monday came from the Parent’s Association, which felt that the current Meatless Monday program wasn’t filling lunch needs satisfactorily.
While it has come under fire from the student body in recent years, Meatless Monday was initially proposed in 2022 by students who hoped to improve sustainability at Branson, as meat production creates a significant carbon footprint.
“The students got together, and they voted that they wanted to be sustainable and have a way to be more healthy and proactive for society,” Barksdale said.
For years, though, many other students have been resistant to the idea of a solely meatless day of lunch.
“There’s been some pushback within the community in regards to not feeling fully satiated or happy with the quality of Meatless Monday meals,” Trigg said.
The kitchen staff has emphasized that, no matter what, the students’ needs come first.
“I loved Meatless Monday. It was simply amazing, but I just want to make sure the students are happy, and I want to find a happy medium where we can all work together,” Barksdale said.
Trigg agreed, expressing his desire for students’ needs to be fulfilled.
“I’m for it, but I’m also for everyone eating the food and not throwing it away,” Trigg said.
Trigg said that he thinks the system Branson had before Meatless Mondays worked well.
“Before we had Meatless Monday, we always had options for those who didn’t eat meat, and they could come to the kitchen and get their options for the day, so I feel like that worked. Pushing that option on everyone who is not necessarily in the mindset of having days without meat, for athletic reasons or whatever, that’s kind of a hard thing to hold them to, and that’s when you get pushback,” Trigg said.
However, just because the previous Meatless Monday program was not popular doesn’t mean it’s gone for good. It may appear in a less scheduled fashion. Trigg said that he and the kitchen team are working to determine a program for meatless options that will satisfy everyone.
“We may fold it in throughout the week outside of a Monday,” Trigg said. “We’re trying to approach it from a different angle.”
