“Meatless Monday” is an international movement designed to encourage people not to eat meat on Mondays in order to enhance their own health and that of the planet.
It is an initiative of the nonprofit The Monday Campaigns Inc. in collaboration with the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Sid Lerner, a marketing professional from the US, launched the initiative in 2003. The idea is to use the start of the week to question one’s eating habits and to make healthier food choices.
Why the beginning of the week, why Monday?
In several religions, Friday is traditionally a meat-free day, Sunday, on the other hand, is the day when families gather for a big meal. For most people, the workweek starts on Monday, so this is the time to get back to the rhythm of everyday after the weekend. During the week, one is focused less on indulging and more on working and productivity.
Those who question old habits on Monday, who make more conscious and healthier decisions, will start the new week with verve and have better chances of success. This correlation has been highlighted by a study in 2009 that was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The focus group received weekly health tips and motivation. Two-thirds said they were seeing an improvement in their overall health, eating habits and physical activity.
Meatless Monday started in 2003 as a public health awareness program. The campaign was supported by the Center for a Livable Future at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as well as over twenty public health facilities. In April 2009, Meatless Monday released an informational video highlighting the impact of meat consumption on climate change.
The initiative originated in the US but is finding more and more followers worldwide: UK, Israel, Brazil, Australia … In Belgium, Ghent became the first city to officially declare a day of the week “vegetarian.” Although not Monday, but Thursday, namely the “Veggie Thursday” (“Donderdag Veggiedag”), you can see the importance that the Flemish government attributes this issue. In 2010, San Francisco was the first city in the US to declare Monday officially “meat-free.”
Here on our blog, there are many vegetarian and vegan recipe ideas that can help make Meatless Monday tastier. From protein pasta dishes, via soups for cold days, light salad and vegetable variations for warm days and burgers, to oriental dishes and desserts … you will surely find something for the whole family!
Each recipe contains Golden Chlorella as a source of vegan protein, so that you can eat meatless but still ensure that everyone in the family gets the recommended daily intake of protein.
We have listed all the benefits of Golden Chlorella here >>> Of course, there are other sources of vegetal protein: Golden Bean, Golden Pea … We will put more and more recipes online!
If you would like to support the Meatless Monday initiative and also contribute a recipe idea with Alver Golden Chlorella, you can leave a comment here. At regular intervals, we will pick someone who gets a surprise pack of goodies from us for this purpose.
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