The slogan sums up the concept nicely: “Don’t have a cow, it’s Meatless Monday.”
The Meatless Monday movement is a global initiative to raise awareness of the wellness and environmental benefits of a meatless diet, even just one day a week.
Want to try it? It’s pretty simple — you just need some meat-free meal ideas in mind for Mondays.
A non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, which began in 2003, Meatless Monday is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which was supporting a proposal for a 15 per cent reduction in saturated fat (primarily of animal origin) in the American diet at the time.
The campaign began modestly in the U.S. by encouraging people to refrain from eating meat for one day out of seven (roughly 15 per cent of the week) to help reach this goal. Then musician Paul McCartney got on the bandwagon. McCartney is perhaps the most famous proponent of the Meatless Monday movement, which he coined Meat-free Monday in the U.K.
Today, Meatless Monday is active in 36 countries, including Canada where Earthsave Canada administers the program.
Meatless Monday is not necessarily advocating completely vegetarian or vegan diets, although the choice is very much supported. The advantage of the Meatless Monday campaign is in the softer advocacy for a healthier diet, just one day a week. It’s an accessible idea that appeals to a broad spectrum of the community and may be less intimidating than suggesting that we change our diets completely.
What can one day of a meat-free diet do? It can help the environment by helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the production of animal agriculture, reported to be responsible for 18 to 25 per cent of emissions worldwide. It may also add benefits to our health and wellness.
According to the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization, a diet low in animal products and higher in vegetables and fruit results in a lower risk of many diseases including cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes. For families, it can be a fun way to add more fun and variety to meals.
The best way to discover the tasty alternatives of a meat-free diet is to experiment. If you think of a meal as incomplete without meat, you might want to hit up a vegetarian friend or an illustrated vegetarian cookbook for easy and delicious ideas. Rather than thinking about cutting meat from your diet, challenge yourself to add something meatless that is equally appealing.
Simple Meatless Monday ideas include grilled tofu in a stir fry, wild mushroom risotto, vegetarian lasagna or roasted veggie pizza with a salad, plus savoury side dishes with quinoa, nuts, rice and legumes.
For more information, recipes and ideas on Meatless Monday visit meatlessmonday.ca.
