Meatless Monday Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Meatless Monday?
• How long should schools sign up for?
• Does the school's Meatless day necessarily have to be a Monday?
• Should we go Meatless all day or just at lunchtime?
• What if a student doesn't wish to participate or a parent or guardian doesn't want his or her child to participate?
• Should students who bring packed lunches go Meatless too?
• How will vegetarian students benefit from the project?
• Why don't you just suggest that people cut down on meat every day rather than stop completely for one day?
• How will the project affect other animal-derived products, such as dairy products and eggs, which are sometimes part of school lunches?
• Can schools still serve fish on Meatless Monday?
• Should staff members participate?
• My school already has a Meatless day once a week. Should we still sign up?
• How can my school get involved?
• Is eating meat necessary for staying healthy?
• Is there enough protein in a vegetarian diet?
• Isn't going vegetarian a personal choice?
• Animals kill other animals for food, so why shouldn't we?
• Animals have to die sometime, so what's wrong with eating them?
• Don't farmers treat their animals well so that they'll produce more milk or eggs?
• If everyone ate only vegetables and grains, would there be enough to eat?
• Aren't humans natural carnivores?
  
  

What is Meatless Monday?
Meatless Monday is a global citizenship project that aims to encourage school communities to reduce their meat and fish consumption (and serve vegetarian and vegan food each Monday at lunchtime) in order to improve students' health, protect the environment, fight world hunger, and help animals.

This school initiative is part of a wider global movement encouraging people to help slow climate change by reducing their meat consumption. There are many different organizations around the world advocating a weekly Meatless day.

Does my school have to sign up for a full year?
We suggest that schools sign up for a full year so that students really understand the issues and get familiar with a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan food. The longer the project lasts, the greater the impact! However, if your school wishes to try Meatless Monday for a shorter period, we would still encourage that. We are confident that once a school sees how beneficial the initiative is to all involved, it will keep Mondays Meatless.

Does the school's Meatless day necessarily have to be a Monday?
No. By reducing our meat intake—any day of the week—we improve our health, protect the environment, help to alleviate world hunger, and help animals. The alliteration (Meat-Free Monday), the idea of making a fresh start to the week in a positive way, and the opportunity to unite with other organizations that are promoting a Meatless Monday are all reasons for suggesting Monday.

Should we go Meatless all day or just at lunchtime?
In schools, Meatless Monday focuses on school hours only, but we encourage staff members and students to remain Meatless for the entire day (or more) if they want to.

What if a student doesn't wish to participate or a parent or guardian doesn't want his or her child to participate?
Schools may want to allow students to opt out of Meatless Monday (by having a parent or guardian write to the school) or suggest that the student bring a packed lunch that day. Alternatively, schools may wish to approach Meatless Monday in the same way that they approach any other environmental policy (such as recycling, which is not optional).

A whole-school approach such as this—if implemented following proper consultation with students, parents, and staff—promotes consistent messages and clarity and gives students an opportunity to make a real impact.

Ultimately, it's up to each school to come to its own decisions, though we are happy to give advice.

Do students who bring packed lunches need to go Meatless too?
We suggest that schools encourage students who bring packed lunches to go Meatless, but in most schools, the choice is currently theirs. We hope that students will be interested in and excited about the project once they understand the reasons for having a Meatless day and will choose to participate. The more people take part, the bigger the impact we will have!

Some schools have introduced a "packed-lunch policy" to support healthier eating, and this could be adapted to include Meatless Monday.

How will vegetarian students benefit from the project?
Like nonvegetarian students, vegetarian students will be able to explore the reasons why reducing one's meat consumption is good for the planet. Also, rather than having just one or two vegetarian options, they will be able to choose from foods that are not usually available to them.

Vegetarian students will also be able to help peers who might find changing their old dietary habits difficult at first. They can volunteer to become a "buddy" as part of a vegetarian buddy plan.

Why don't you just suggest that people cut down on meat every day rather than stop completely for one day?
A weekly Meatless day is a clear concept—it's easier for caterers to manage and promotes unity and the sharing of ideas. It also allows school communities to become more familiar with a range of vegetarian food selections that they wouldn't be likely to discover if they were still providing some meat every day.

How will the project affect other animal-derived products, such as dairy products and eggs, which are sometimes part of school lunches?
The more we replace animal-derived products with plants, the smaller our carbon footprint will be. A 2006 University of Chicago study found that an average U.S. diet derives 47 percent of its calories from animal sources, which results in a carbon footprint of 5,556 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. A vegetarian diet results in 3,307 pounds of carbon dioxide and a vegan diet 115 pounds.

However, we understand that making changes may require some time, so schools and catering companies should design Meatless menus in accordance with their capabilities.

Can schools still serve fish on Mondays?
For many reasons, we suggest that schools not serve fish. For one thing, commercial fishing, aquaculture, and angling are all environmentally damaging.

Commercial fishing is wiping out biodiversity as miles of nets sweep up all the fish in their path, taking other marine life and coral-based habitats with them. Commercial fishing has devastated the ocean's ecosystem so much that large fish populations are only 10 percent as large as they were in the 1950s.

Fish farms (which are often described as "sustainable") are also bad for the environment. Because of high stocking densities, the fish on ocean-based farms are infested with parasites and full of diseases, which they pass to fish living near the farms. When farmed fish escape, they threaten the well-being of native fish species. Fish farms pollute coastal waters with massive amounts of concentrated fish feces, and they require huge numbers of wild-caught fish to feed their captives. Scientists warn that the damage caused by the fishing industry is likely irreparable.

For these reasons, participating schools should not serve fish on Mondays.

Should staff members participate?
Yes! We encourage all members of the school community to take part—students, catering staff, teachers, the site manager, and the head teacher. It sets a good example for children and young people and also heightens the project's impact.

My school already has a Meatless day once a week. Should we still sign up?
Yes. Signing up for Meatless Monday will allow you to network with other schools and share good practices. You will also receive free teaching packs to help you explore the issues behind having a Meatless day and will receive recognition for the difference you are making.

How can my school get involved?
Write to TeachKind at 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510, call us at 757-622-7382, e-mail us at Info@teachkind.org, or sign up here.

We will talk you through the steps and, if you would like us to, will liaise with your school's catering company.

Is eating meat necessary for staying healthy?
Research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Plus, meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than vegans are.

The consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products has also been strongly linked to osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, asthma, and male impotence. Scientists have also found that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than their meat-eating friends; this means that they are less susceptible to everyday illnesses such as the flu. Vegetarians and vegans live, on average, six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters.

Is there enough protein in a vegetarian diet?
Absolutely. In Western countries, our problem is that we get too much protein, not too little—and that is causing health problems. Many Americans get at least twice as much protein as they need, and too much protein—especially too much animal protein—can increase the risk of osteoporosis and kidney disease.

There is protein in whole-wheat bread, nuts, oatmeal, beans, corn, peas, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables, and broccoli—almost every food, in fact. Unless you eat a great deal of processed, greasy fast food, it's almost impossible to eat as many calories as you need for good health and not get enough protein.

Isn't going vegetarian a personal choice?
It is a matter of choice, yes. However, from a moral and societal standpoint, actions that harm others do not necessarily come without consequences. For example, child abuse and cruelty to animals are immoral acts, not matters of choice. Today, our society encourages meat-eating and factory farming, but at one time, society also encouraged slavery, child labor, and many other things that are now universally recognized as wrong.

Animals kill other animals for food, so why shouldn't we?
Most animals who kill for food could not survive if they didn't do so, but that is not true of humans. It could be seen as a case of need versus greed. Many animals, including our closest primate relatives, are vegetarians or near-vegetarians. It would make more biological sense to look to them as models of healthy eating rather than to carnivores such as tigers and dogs.

The animals have to die sometime, so what's wrong with eating them?
Everyone has to die sometime, but that has never justified causing them suffering before that time—or taking their lives.

Don't farmers treat their animals well so that they'll produce more milk or eggs?
That may have been true in the past, but today, animals on factory farms gain weight, lay eggs, or produce milk not because they are well cared for, comfortable, and content but because they are subjected to medications, hormone treatments, genetic manipulation, and management techniques. Nowadays, animals raised for food are slaughtered when they are extremely young, usually before disease decimates them—although diseases are rampant on factory farms, and in fact, mortality rates are factored into business costs. Factory farmers raise such huge numbers of animals for food and the demand for cheap meat is so high that it is less expensive for them to absorb losses than it is for them to provide humane conditions for animals.

If everyone only ate vegetables and grains, would there be enough to eat?
Yes! In fact, we feed so much grain to animals to fatten them up for consumption that if we all became vegetarians, we could produce enough food to feed everyone on Earth. The world's cattle consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—which is greater than the entire human population.

Aren't humans natural carnivores?
No, we are not. In fact, studies show that a vegetarian diet suits the human body better than a diet that includes meat, which we are not equipped to rapidly expel from our bodies the way that true carnivores do. Not only do carnivorous animals have short digestive tracts, they also have claws and long, curved fangs. Humans have flat, flexible nails, and our "canine" teeth are minuscule compared to those of carnivores.

There are many other differences: Unlike humans, natural meat-eaters manufacture their own vitamin C, whereas we need to consume vitamin C in the form of fruits and vegetables. True carnivores perspire through their tongues rather than through their skin. Natural meat-eaters have sharp, pointy front teeth, sharp and jagged molars, and a tooth-bone density that's many times greater than that of a human and that enables them to crunch through the bones of their prey. Carnivores have no digestive enzymes in their saliva at all, and their digestive acids are many times more acidic than those of humans, which prevents the bacteria in rotting flesh from killing them. Natural meat-eaters have jaws that move only vertically instead of in a grinding motion as ours do, and they don't chew their food—they just rip and swallow. Carnivores have claws that they use to rip their prey apart, not sensitive fingers for plucking. They have intestinal tracts that are only three times their body length, which enables them to eject rotting flesh quickly. No matter how much saturated fat and cholesterol they consume, natural meat-eaters never develop atherosclerosis, which is the leading cause of death in the industrialized world.