In the classroom this week we watched an episode of the science web series What If called What If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef? The fourth and fifth graders encountered statistics on how much the beef industry contributes both to the U.S. economy and to greenhouse gas emissions, the cost of ground beef versus dried beans, the amount of water and land it takes to produce beef versus beans, and the health benefits of eating a diet rich in plants.
In the kitchen we made a vegan recipe of refried beans and enjoyed them with blue and yellow tortilla chips from Sabor Mexicano, queso fresco, cilantro and oregano from our school garden, red onion, radish, and fresh lime juice. Our closing circle question asked the chefs if they would choose beans over beef and a surprisingly high number of them responded “most of the time,” “definitely,” “maybe,” and “probably.”
