I first became a vegetarian in 1997.

I was 12 years old and obsessed with the Beatles. I picked out books from the school library solely based on the date they were published, i.e. in the Beatles’ epoch of 1963-1969.

One day, my mom mentioned that the Beatles were vegetarian. That piece of trivia was all the convincing I needed to give up meat and beg my traditional Southern family to do the same. (They weren’t as willing to give up meat out of respect to John, Paul, George, and Ringo.)

Over the years I’ve vacillated between being vegetarian, vegan, and non-vegetarian, finding more reasons for my food choices than Beatles worship.

As a vegetarian with a passion for vegan food, I’m convinced that reducing meat consumption is one of the most powerful ways we can make a personal difference in world environmental, health, and ethical issues.

The Meatless Monday campaign, created to encourage people to go meat free one day a week, is a great way to make a difference in health and conservation and adopt a more conscious lifestyle.

History and Popularity

People all over the world have started observing Meatless Monday. But it’s not a new concept.

The recent campaign started back in 2003 as a public health initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

Joan Jett loves vegetarianism. Photo: david_shankbone

Before that, America observed meatless Mondays during World War I to help ration.

Now, it’s championed by celebrities like Sir Paul McCartney and his daughters Stella and Mary, Yoko Ono, Simon Cowell, and even Oprah who hosted Michael Pollan, food activitist and author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, on her show in April 2009.

Mario Batali shocked carnivorous foodies by announcing in May, 2010, that he would be joining the campaign and going meat free on Mondays.

Legislation Momentum

The movement is gaining momentum all over the world. Here are some examples:

1.) Baltimore, Maryland. In October 2009, Baltimore City Public Schools made Mondays meatless for its 82,000 students. Although the move angered some (Glen Beck, for one) school officials have reported that Monday has become the most popular lunch day and the school system has saved 20 cents per meal per student every Monday by not serving meat.

2.) San Francisco, California. In April 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution observing Monday as Vegetarian Day, encouraging schools, restaurants, and grocery stores to offer a greater variety of meatless options.

3.) Ghent, Belgium. In May 2009, Ghent, Belgium became the first city in the world to declare a Veggie Day once a week.

Photo: Neeta_Lind

4.) Tel Aviv, Isreal. In March 2010, Tel Aviv University joined Oxford, Columbia, and the University of California, Los Angeles in bring Meat-Free Mondays to its campus.

5.) Michigan. This spring, the state of Michigan encouraged residents not to eat meat on a one-day “Meatout”.

6.) Takoma Park, Maryland. Takoma Park designated April 24-30, 2010, “Veg Week”. Many residents, including State Senator Jamie Raskin, Delegate Tom Hucker, Congresswoman Donna Edwards and Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin, pledged to eat vegetarian for the entire week.

Why is this important, according to McCartney and Batali?

Sir Paul McCartney declares,

Having one designated meat-free day a week is actually a meaningful change that everyone can make, that goes to the heart of several important political, environmental, and ethical issues all at once…for instance it not only addresses pollution, but better health, the ethical treatment of animals, global hunger and community and political activism.

Mario Batali, who recently lost 45 pounds, “still loves meat,” according to Elizabeth Meltz, Batali’s director of sustainability. “But even he believes everything should be eaten in moderation.”

In stats

1.) By forgoing meat one day a week, our meat consumption is reduced by 15%. Cutting out meat one day a week is the equivalent to keeping your car off the road for 1,000 miles a year.

2.) The United Nations found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships combined. That amounts to about 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

3.) If the population of the US went meatless one day a week, 12 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved per year.

4.) It takes about 300 gallons of water a day to produce a vegetarian-based diet. It takes about 4,000 gallons of water a day to produce a typical meat-based diet.

Photo: davichi

5.) According to the EPA, runoff from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all industrial pollution sources combined.

6.) More than 1/3 of all the raw sources and fossil fuels we use in the US are utilized to raise animals for food.

7.) We eat too much meat anyways. The average American consumes 8 oz. of meat per day, 45% more than the USDA recommends. Between 1961 and 2007, the world population doubled in size, at a factor of 2.2. Meat consumption, however, quadrupled and poultry increased 10-fold.

8.) Saturated fat, found more frequently in meats than plants, is linked to multiple preventable diseases including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and various cancers.

9.) Cutting our meat consumption lessens our chances of being infected with bacterial diseases spread through mass-produced meat and reduces our exposure to antibiotics.

How to Get Involved

1.) Visit Meatless Monday’s website for more information and recipes.

2.) Check out Paul McCartney’s Meat Free Mondays campaign.

3.) Explore the huge inventory of blogs, websites, and books devoted to vegetarian/vegan cooking.

4.) Eat a wide variety of delicious vegetarian and vegan food.

5.) Check out movies like Food Inc. and books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Community Connection

Have you ever tried going meat free on Mondays? If you’re a vegetarian/vegan, what reasons inspired you to give up meat? In opposition to the vegetarian lifestyle? Join the conversation.

Visit Matador’s vegetarian travel focus page for articles like 11 of the World’s Most Vegetarian-Friendly Cities.

Teens at New Orleans’ Cafe Reconcile stay off the street, get skills, and–hopefully–get a job. Photo: Francisco Collazo

Exotic cuisine, celebrity chefs, and Michelin starred restaurants may seem a world away from violent misfits and underpaid government staff of juvenile correction facilities. However, distant worlds are rapidly colliding. Fed up with ineffective government interventions, the culinary world is taking charge by bringing innovative at risk teen programing from the back kitchens of bakeries and culinary schools across America to the country’s “correctional” facilities.

The Argument for Change

Forget the days of knuckle-rapping punitive discipline. The new game is early detection and early intervention. Provide constructive and enriching support to underprivileged young adults before the system fails them. And why can’t cooking be that support?

Culinary training builds confidence and self worth by teaching students how to combine simple ingredients with passion and imagination to create something out of nothing– a highly lucrative skill set and a classic metaphor for life. And run with military precision, a professional kitchen demands self discipline, team work, and clear communication amongst its members… all positive character building influences that troubled youth often lack.

What does juvenile detention and incarceration produce? Probably, a more hardened and bitter criminal who still can’t get a job.

Can cooking be the catalyst necessary to revive our outdated prevention and intervention policies? Some chefs and social entrepreneurs think so.

Who’s Paving the Way?

Lisa Thompson – Blue Sky Inn Bakery, Chicago, Illinois

Employing homeless and troubled youth on the east side of Chicago, Lisa Thompson opened the doors to Blue Sky Inn Bakery in 2008. Supplying fresh baked goods, coffees, and catering services to local downtown Chicago businesses, the bakery supports hands-on job training and the development of “soft skills,” such as teamwork, conflict resolution, communication, accountability, critical thinking, and problem solving. Lisa has blazed a path for many young adults by helping them find long term employment and facilitating an outlet for creative expression and subsequent personal growth.

Bill Strickland – Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Don’t believe the fine arts are an anti-poverty, anti-crime tool? All cynics please direct questions to Bill Strickland.

Raised in the slums of Pittsburgh, Strickland founded the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (and adopted the Bidwell Training Center) to teach fine arts and marketable skills to troubled youth and displaced adults in his community. The center’s culinary program, whose curriculum is modeled after the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York, prepares students for and places them in the finest kitchens across America.

Strickland’s innovative programing has not gone unnoticed. In 1996, he was the recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, an honor bestowed to individuals committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.

The Icing on the Cake

The use of heavy handed discipline to produce a change in behavior is not only outdated, but dangerous. And the proof is in the numbers.

While prison funding eats over $60 billion tax dollars per year, incarceration still yields a recidivism rate (rate that inmates return to prison within three years of their release) of over 50% in the United States. In other words, in over half the cases, the prison system fails in its core objective – to rehabilitate criminals and transform them into productive members of society.

Compare that approach to Bill Strickland’s program, which invests in the educational and personal development of troubled teens before the system fails them. Strickland’s investment produces an 85 percent college acceptance rate among graduating seniors.

Crime fighting never tasted so good.

For more information and opportunities to get involved, visit Blue Sky Inn and Manchester Bidwell.

Community Connection:

Lots of Matador members are interested in the ways food can be used as a tool of social change. Meet Boya, a Washington, D.C. native currently in Italy who teaches kids about food.

Want to get cooking yourself? Check out this article from our archives on the non-profit Culinary Corps to see if you’re eligible to participate in their annual service trips.