During both world wars, Presidents Wilson, Truman and Roosevelt motivated citizens in the United States to support the war effort with voluntary meatless days. The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, has developed Meatless Monday as a way to bring back skipping meat as a way to mobilize an effort to improve health and improve the environment.
The Meatless Monday campaigns is spreading to schools, campuses, restaurants, and various communities in an effort to improve health, reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to reducing climate change. Skipping meat for one day a week sounds small, but this one change can reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity and reduce your carbon footprint.
I recently checked out the The Monday Campaigns website, where you can get information and recipes to go meatless – either at home, school, or in the workplace. The goal of the campaign is to get individuals to reduce their meat consumption by 15% in order to improve your personal health and the health of the planet.
Why Monday? The project’s site answers this question with, “For most Americans the week begins on Monday. On Monday we move from the freedom of the weekend back to the structure of work or school. We set our intentions for the next six days. We plan ahead and evaluate progress. From an early age we internalize this rhythm. And studies suggest we are more likely to maintain behaviors begun on Monday throughout the week. That makes Monday the perfect day to make a change for your health and the health of our planet.”
The Monday Campaigns catch phrase is “The day all health breaks loose.” To go meatless, you can download tool kits, pledge sheets, recipes, and resources. Some of the campaigns are geared to various groups, with Monday health runs, “me time” Monday for caregivers, and “Kids Cook Mondays”
So far the project reports that over 100 Universities, 20 K-12 school districts and many public and private institutions offer Meatless Monday to their students. Michael Pollan, Oprah Winfrey, and Paul McCartney have supported the campaign, and the campaign is going on in over 23 countries. Why not ditch the meat on Mondays?
Image Source:
www.mondaycampaigns.org/
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