Novato School Saves Water with Meatless Mondays

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Since 2008, Novato school district stopped serving red meat for Humane Society’s Meatless Monday initiative. Miguel Villarreal, director of the district’s food and nutritional services told local news the initiative helps them save water.

“When you do that math for 2,500 gallons of water per one pound of beef for 1,000 pounds of beef,…over the last eight years we have conserved like 3 billion gallons of water,” Villarreal said.

With over 4,000 students in the district receiving breakfast and lunch, keeping kids satisfied, and providing nutritious easy-to-make foods are important for the district. The district is now working on gearing up for the new school year with fresh new ingredients and recipes.

Sofia Garcia, who works in one of the High School’s cafeteria explained to local news that many of the Meatless Monday meals are easy to make and easy for the students to take food items on the go.

Meatless Mondays often offer up fresh plant based foods like lettuce, black beans, fresh tomatoes, fruits and whole grain rice. Students often are able to choose from a variety of options and many of the produce in Novato’s schools are local and some organic.

Villarreal continues to work with students in and out of school, to help ensure healthier meals are easily accessible for all students in the district.

To learn more about this change, click here.

To learn more about how Villarreal also helped support a student-led summer cooking camp, read here.