Students at Clarenville Middle School were treated to a feed of moose as part of the School Lunch Association’s vision to see more local food on cafeteria trays. 

The moose the students munched on this week was donated. 

“We were very fortunate that the Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union obtained a nonprofit license and were successfully able to harvest some moose thanks to a gentleman by the name Tony Young,” the School Lunch Association’s executive director John Finn said.

Not only did the group get the moose for free, well known St. John’s butcher shop, Halliday’s Meat Market, grounded it for them. The school even got free propane for the barbecue. 

The school also invited Clarenville business Arrow Addiction to show the students gun safety to add an educational element to the event. 

It’s not the first time the association has tried to branch out from the daily menu. 

Late in 2022 they served locally caught fish to a school in Musgravetown. Not every school is willing to serve up local fish or moose burgers.

“We sent in some surveys out to the 41 schools in which we operate and we polled some parents and the response was really receptive in the more rural areas,” Finn said.

On Wednesday, cafeteria chefs made and cooked 150 moose burgers for the students at Clarenville Middle School. 

Principal Paul Power fully embraced the idea.

“I thought it was awesome,” he said.

“We’re lucky enough to have a chef on our staff who serves our lunch, so he was very excited to get something that he could actually make himself.”

Multiple students returned to the cafeteria kitchen looking for another burger. 

For Grade 8 student Logan Young, the burger marks his first time trying moose. 

“It’s one of the best thing I’ve had in a while,” he said. 

As far as Finn could tell, it’s the first time in his organization’s 34 years that it has served moose. 

And this isn’t a one off. According to the School Lunch Association, they plan on serving moose at a school in the Goulds neighbourhood of St. John’s later this spring. 

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