Meat Free Monday
Let me call on that wise sage, Ferris Beuller, when I tell you this,
-Ism’s in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, “I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.” Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I’d still have to bum rides off people.”
Which is to say, if you don’t get down on vegetarianism, or veganism, or any -ism like our buddy Ferris: coo-coo-cachoo. Nobody is asking you to. But could you go one day a week without meat? Just one? Would you do it if you knew how good it was for the planet/people/animals/etc.? Hopefully you, like John Lennon, believe in yourself–but if it helps, I believe in you too.
Why bother? The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that livestock production generates 18% of all Green House Gases. Cows (especially those raised on CAFOs- Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) emit a lot of methane. Let’s be frank, we’re talking about farts here people- and it stinks.
Paul McCartney has been influential in spreading the Meat Free Mondays movement to the UK (it already has deep roots in the US and Australia) and closer to home the Michigan Sustainable Foods Initiative (MSFI) is piloting a Meatless Mondays program in the East Quad Dining Hall with the help of Chef Buzz Cummings. Interested in learning more? Check out Support Meat Free Monday.
Happy Meat Free Monday!
This is a great idea for people to catch onto and slowly move more towards vegetarian or mostly vegetarian
Spot on! We tend to think that little things like this don’t make a difference, but they really do. I’m sure someone could do the math, and figure out how many cows,pigs,lambs, and chickens this would save every year.
As far as the whole concept of “CAFO” …get behind me satan
Aunt Jane will like this entry especially – Great suggestion to start out small (one day a week) and then gradually add more.
Great work! I really appreciate some fresh new recipes for Fridays during Lent! We will be eating many meatless entries!
Here’s an interesting menu from Foodshare in Toronto