This annual event, which began in 1977, encourages everyone to try a meat
free meal – even for a day. The benefits of having meat free days in the week are numerous, which is why our local Conscious Eating initiative supports and encourages such events.
Stay healthy
Opting for mostly plant-based foods, limiting red meat and processed meat, can have a big impact on your health. The World Cancer Research Fund highlight that diets lower in meat intake boast lower risks of strokes, heart disease, cancers, type 2 diabetes and premature death.
Save Money
Most of the staples of a meat-free diet (i.e. beans, lentils, rice and corn) are comparatively cheaper, and longer lasting, than meat.
Eating less meat + more veg = saving money
Save Lives
Billions of animals farmed and killed for meat each year are raised in intensive factory farms. These animals are often diseased, injured and dying, due to the unnatural conditions they are kept in.
Eating less meat does reduce the number of animal lives lost (if you are curious about your impact try a Vegetarian Calculator online).
Alleviate world hunger
We produce more grain to feed animals than humans. It can take up to 12 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of beef, which is an inefficient use of energy. Currently, around 900 million people suffer from hunger and undernourishment, yet an amount of cereal which could feed three times this number of people is fed to cattle, pigs and chickens.
Save our environment
Continued agricultural intensification, expansion, and overfishing, will continue to contribute to loss of species and biodiversity. Greenhouse gases, such as methane, CO², and nitrous oxide, produced by livestock, decaying manure and the destruction of forest ecosystems, also contribute to climate change .
Shared successes!
Please get in touch with one of your favourite meat free recipes- tasty and kind to the wallet- so we can share them for others to try: www.HealthyGibraltar.org/MeatFreeMealIdeas
