Ever heard of Meatless Mondays? I have a few times and always thought it sounded like a great idea. But the revolution usually started there, with the thinking. So now I’d like to take that thinking in to action, and challenge you to do the same!
It really all started back during World War I. The U.S. Food Administration urged families to reduce consumption of key staples to aid the war effort. “Food Will Win the War,” the government proclaimed, and “Meatless Monday” and “Wheatless Wednesday” were introduced to encourage Americans to do their part.
The idea would come and go in the coming years. According to a 1929 Saturday Evening Post article, “Americans began to look seriously into the question of what and how much they were eating. Lots of people discovered for the first time that they could eat less and feel no worse – frequently for the better”. The campaign came back again during World War II.
Meatless Monday was revived in 2003 by former ad man turned health advocate Sid Lerner, who saw the prevalence of preventable illnesses associated with excessive meat consumption and decided to introduce Meatless Monday as a public health awareness campaign. The initiative was backed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future and endorsed by 30 schools of public health.
Why go meatless? Check out this video:
(If you’re a subscriber and get my posts through e-mail, you’ll have to click out of the e-mail and onto the blog to see the video, I think)
The benefits really are endless. And what better way to start the week than with some clean eating that helps our bodies?!
The website has a great resource full of recipe ideas for all meals and snacks. Check ‘em out!
~What’s your favorite meatless meal or snack?
For me, it would be nuts and some good ol’ black beans.
I started going meatless one or two nights a week and wheatless a few nights a week. I really like it! It makes me put variety and lots of veggies into our dinners. Good post Trish!
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