Paul McCartney is currently urging people to not eat meat one day a week on Mondays. He is promoting this not only for health reasons but environmental reasons as well. What do you think about this? Hubby and I are adopting this into our weekly menu planning!

There is an interesting chart I've seen in the past showing the environmental effects of giving up just meat one day a week. I can't remember all of them but giving up meat entirely would have the same effect of having all cars off the road.

Oh yeah, I've heard of this campaign before, and I think it's a good start and a good strategy (rather than demanding that people go completely veg, which probably wouldn't be too well-received by many).

But I am flummoxed by the idea of eating meat every day anyway. For one, I would not be able to afford it, and my digestive system wouldn't be too happy with me either. We usually have meat anywhere from 0-3 days per week, I would guess.

Very interesting... I think it's a great idea!

I'm currently trying to use up a lot of meat in the freezer before we move in August, but after that, I plan on cooking/eating mostly vegetarian, and when possible buying only the best meats (organic, grass-fed, free-range, local.. whatever applies). I guess it's somewhat about health and finances, but it's 90% environmental for me.

We've always had a vegeterian dinner plan for Monday evenings, but now we are extending it through the whole day for this.

I could honestly go a whole day eating only meat I love it all so much! But there have been a few days here and there when I look back at my food and I'm surprised to find there was no meat anywhere in there during the day so it's surely not impossible by any means. Does not eating meat include not having eggs? I love my eggs in the morning!!

I've hardly had any meat at all for several weeks now. Tonight's dinner will be barley and kidney bean chili.

My husband is a vegetarian, so most of our dinners have no meat...if I want chicken or fish, I fix a little just for me.

Fox,

I'm not sure of the environmental effects of eggs although I know dairy environmental effects are quite detrimental along with meat production in general. For me, I don't eat any animal products but I don't think most people would classify eggs as meat.

I'm all for anyone who reduces their animal product consumption, even if it is just a little bit

I think that if I were doing this meatless-once-a-week thing for the environment, I'd skip the eggs too, or stick to local, organic eggs. Factory egg farming does have some pretty detrimental effects on the environment.

The hens are packed in such close, confined spaces that they have to be pumped full of antibiotics to stay healthy (which, in addition to ending up in our ground water, leads to more drug-resistant diseases), and they produce a whole lot of rather toxic waste that can kill off nearby wildlife. Not to mention the energy costs of sustaining these farms (with their air handling systems) and shipping the eggs to your store.

Like nelie pointed out, it's probably worth thinking about all the animal products you eat. I've chosen to remain ignorant about the effects of dairy farming, for the most part... knowing exactly how/where my yogurt, milk, and cheese are produced sounds like a lot of work.

mayness - if you (or anyone is interested), Earthlings is a really good award winning documentary about various animal industries. I saw it on youtube it it appears google video has it: (not for the faint of heart, but I watched it because I thought it was important to know)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...30387826688635

I personally think its important to think about the fact that cows can live to be over 20 years old but the life span of a dairy cow is 3-4 years, at which point they are butchered. The conditions are just as horrible as others where cows are packed tightly, filled with hormones, mistreated, etc.

And really learning the environmental issues and even animal abuses was pretty eye opening for me. I started learning only after I decided to follow a vegan diet.

I love the no-meat Mondays deal! I, like many other posters, go several days without consuming meat.

So, what are your meal plans for meatless Monday? I think I'll make an Indian-style rice dish for lunch, and have spanakopita for dinner. It has cheese in it, though.