Should pork be allowed in British Schools?

P.S. Don't google "munging". Especially not on image search.

A school near me only serves vegetarian food. They have lots of Muslim students, quite a few Jewish students and several vegetarian students. The school made the decision because they didn't have the capacity to cook five different meals each day. Vegetarian food is suitable for almost all of the children and it's perfectly healthy.

Meat has no nutritional benefit over properly planned vegetarian food and not eating meat for five meals out of twenty one will not do anyone any harm.

As ever, there's a common sense solution. Does the school have a large proportion (>50%) of Jewish/Muslim/vegetarian children? If so, banning pork (from school dinners, *not* packed lunches) is fine. However, banning it in all schools is just stupid.

I read about a gentleman who was forced to turn down a job offer working in a school canteen because he wasn't able or willing to work with pork products such as bacon, sausages etc. Not only was he disappointed, he had his benefit sanctioned/ stopped for 6 months for refusing a job, luckily the sanction was over turned when they realised that his refusal was down to cultural reasons.

But the issue is should pork products etc be served in the first place if some people are unable to work with them? That pretty much rules a lot of people from taking such jobs.
You've also got many pupils and staff who might feel uneasy that their plate may of had pork on or have been washed in a dishwasher with pork remnants from other plates etc.

What are your opinions? Is it time to think about everyone and what is acceptable to the majority?

Oh god dammit

I think strictly eating gruel every day wouldn't do you any harm. I'd still be pretty pissed if my children's school thought that constituted a proper meal.

As ever, there's a common sense solution. Does the school have a large proportion (>50%) of Jewish/Muslim/vegetarian children? If so, banning pork (from school dinners, *not* packed lunches) is fine. However, banning it in all schools is just stupid.

You know vegetarian food isn't gruel right? I eat loads of different things. Here's an example of my meals for a week:

Monday: Breakfast, wheatabix with milk and raisins. Lunch, spinach, pesto and mozzarella pannini. Snack, banana. Dinner, vegetarian lasagne.

Tuesday: breakfast, wheatabix with dried apricots. Lunch, jacket potato with baked beans. Snack, flapjack. Dinner, tomato and lentil soup.

Wednesday: breakfast, porridge with jam. Lunch, cheese sandwiches, yogurt and am apple. Snack, orange. Dinner: gnocchi with pesto, olives, tomatoes and spinach.

Thursday: breakfast, shredded wheat and banana. Lunch, tomato pasta salad. Snack, lemon drizzle cake. Dinner, Thai green curry.

Friday: breakfast, wheatabix. Lunch, scrambled egg on toast. Snack, kiwi. Dinner, stir fry.

Saturday: breakfast, shredded wheat. Lunch, soup. Snack, flapjack. Dinner, risotto.

Sunday: breakfast, porridge. Lunch, salad. Snack, biscuits. Dinner, pie with veggie mince, mixed veg and gravy with broccoli.

See, you can eat loads of nutritious, filling, tasty meals as a veggie. All are feasible for a school to cook.

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I literally cannot see a dish in that list that would not be improved immeasurably by the addition of steak.

What an absolute idiot, he deserves everything he gets. What legitimate health reason does he have for not serving pork in a canteen?

You know vegetarian food isn't gruel right? I eat loads of different things. Here's an example of my meals for a week:

Monday: Breakfast, wheatabix with milk and raisins. Lunch, spinach, pesto and mozzarella pannini. Snack, banana. Dinner, vegetarian lasagne.

Tuesday: breakfast, wheatabix with dried apricots. Lunch, jacket potato with baked beans. Snack, flapjack. Dinner, tomato and lentil soup.

Wednesday: breakfast, porridge with jam. Lunch, cheese sandwiches, yogurt and am apple. Snack, orange. Dinner: gnocchi with pesto, olives, tomatoes and spinach.

Thursday: breakfast, shredded wheat and banana. Lunch, tomato pasta salad. Snack, lemon drizzle cake. Dinner, Thai green curry.

Friday: breakfast, wheatabix. Lunch, scrambled egg on toast. Snack, kiwi. Dinner, stir fry.

Saturday: breakfast, shredded wheat. Lunch, soup. Snack, flapjack. Dinner, risotto.

Sunday: breakfast, porridge. Lunch, salad. Snack, biscuits. Dinner, pie with veggie mince, mixed veg and gravy with broccoli.

See, you can eat loads of nutritious, filling, tasty meals as a veggie. All are feasible for a school to cook.

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Oh god dammit

I think strictly eating gruel every day wouldn't do you any harm. I'd still be pretty pissed if my children's school thought that constituted a proper meal.

Compare vegetarian school dinners vs meat school dinners. They spend less than 50p on you per meal. Meat is expensive. Give me 40p's worth of vegetarian food over 40p's worth of meat any day.

Maybe it's a religious or moral reason rather than a health one?

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lol really? That's incredible. Do you have a source?

I mean I guess they might have a point if those numbers are accurate, but it's a pretty sorry state of affairs.

To be honest if you're that hard up you should be able to require parents to contribute, what, a pound a day to cover a decent meal, prepared in volume? Didn't Jamie Oliver do that at some point?