Next week our CHEF Kids programs will begin a 6-week unit focused exclusively on vegetarian cooking. We have a ton of exciting, flavorful recipes in this unit, and we’re super excited to get cooking. But we know our students, and we know the question on all of our students’ minds will be: why?
We were inspired to put together a vegetarian unit by the NY Time’s Food Section’s comprehensive look at how food and food production affect climate change. 26% of greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, 58% of that comes from production of animal products. This is largely due to the fact that raising animals and getting them to market takes more land, energy, and water than producing plant proteins. We thought it would be interesting to our students (it will be their planet, one day) to put together some recipes that make plant-based meals as delicious and nutritious as meat-based meals.
As we were researching and preparing for the unit, we began to realize that the plant-based protein options were much, much cheaper, pound-for-pound, than the meat options. Perfect for anyone on a budget or looking for an affordable meal option! So, for the planet and for your purse-strings: give meatless meals a chance! Click over to our recipe section to see our vegetarian recipes.