Meatless Mondays is a popular campaign that urges people to abstain from eating meat on Mondays. It’s a great way to start the workweek with meals that are healthy, compassionate, and environmentally sustainable.
The forerunner of the FDA (then called the U.S. Food Administration) initiated a precursor to Meatless Mondays during World War I. To combat food shortages, the government promoted “Meatless Days” to reduce consumption of resource-intensive meat. The government even published vegetarian recipes and menus in magazines and newspapers.
In 2003, advertising guru Sid Lerner, the man behind the famous “Don’t Squeeze the Charmin” campaign, repackaged this concept for a new generation, renaming it Meatless Mondays. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future embraced Lerner’s concept. Humane World for Animals also supports the campaign.
Paul McCartney’s Meat-Free Mondays Campaign
In 2009, Paul McCartney started his own Meat-Free Mondays effort, promoting the concept at his concerts, which featured exclusively vegetarian food at concession stands. Oprah Winfrey later implemented Meatless Mondays at the employee cafeteria at Harpo Studios. And in 2012, Los Angeles public schools launched Meatless Mondays at school cafeterias systemwide. Other U.S. school districts have since followed suit.
The movement continues to spread, with a growing number of colleges, businesses, and individuals joining its ranks. Meatless Mondays offer many people their first direct encounter with vegetarian menus. This is important since, according to the “foot in the door” principle, once someone is partially invested in vegetarian eating, they become much more likely to adopt vegetarian or vegan diets full-time.
The key to having an easy meatless day is to go shopping beforehand. That way, you’ll have plenty of great foods to choose from during your meat-free day. With that in mind, check out my easy vegan foods page for all sorts of delicious vegetarian meal and snack ideas.
