The Benefits Of Meatless Mondays

The new hubbub of the world is starting to revolve around meatless Mondays. Not only are people starting to give this new spin a try, but are continually adding up the benefits. Meatless Monday is just as it sounds; a Monday without eating any type of meat, but instead going the healthier, vegetarian route with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. According to the magazine article, Meatless Monday, published by Sharon Palmer in Today’s Dietitian, “By cutting out meat once per week, you can improve your health and reduce your carbon footprint.” Many people are already taking her advice and jumping on the bandwagon including famous celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, and Ellen DeGeneres (2013). Yet, these celebrities are

This statement is a myth and can be backed up by Meat Mythcrushers. According to the video, Myth: Going Meatless One Day a Week Can Have a Significant Environmental Impact, “reducing meat consumption one day per week as recommended by the Meatless Monday campaign has a negligible impact on greenhouse gas emissions.” This means that of the 3.4 percent of the gas emissions that are from animal agriculture, beef only contribute 1.4 percent. Even if the whole world were to reduce their beef consumption for one week, their carbon footprint would be just a meager .2 percent (2013). This misconception comes from people believing that livestock production is causing large emissions of greenhouse gas emissions when it is more so the transportation and energy production causing the problem. Meat is both economically and nutritionally efficient. Today, livestock farms require less land, water and energy than was required in the past

The issue with factory farming is always going to remain exactly that, an issue, but there is a large misconception there, too. People may be willing to partake in Meatless Monday, but what they do not realize is that the population is going to reach around 9 billion by 2050 and animal agriculture is very much needed. Josh Balk, a member of the Humane Society of the United States, states “the current levels of meat consumption in the U.S. support inhumane practices in industrial factory farms, and push small family farmers out of business. Eating less meat is better for animals, creates less waste and pollution, and places more value on humane and sustainable agriculture (2014).” This is a hoax as the level of production will not decrease just as the slaughter rates will remain the same. Even though they are saying Meatless Monday is a global movement, not every person is going to swear off meat for a