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Meat-Free Mondays
Primary Times received the below article from Rosa aged 10, who receives our publication. She asked if we could publish it for her which we have.
I am Rosa. I’m ten and I live in Darlington. I was born into a vegetarian (later vegan) family and I have always known and cared for animals. I think humans are responsible for so many terrible things including horrific factory farming, climate change and animal testing. My dog is a kind, beautiful beagle who was rescued at six years old from a laboratory. She had spent most of her life in pain and she still has moments when her past hurts her. Humans can do terrible things, but they can also do good by buying cruelty-free products and eating less meat.
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Meat- Free Mondays have been around for a few years. Everyone in France is doing them. The U.K. only does them in a few schools, but they can really help animals, people and the environment. Some people may think ‘what would we eat, dry potato?’ but there are some very nice vegetarian (and vegan) foods you could try. Vegetarian food does not have to be healthy all the time; you can still eat chips! Here are some of the benefits of Meat-Free Mondays:
- The meat industry is responsible for 31% of greenhouse gases so therefore eating less meat is good for the environment.
- Meat can have health effects. Processed meat (such as hot dogs and bacon) are a type one carcinogen (classified as that by the World Health Organisation) which means they have the same potential to cause cancer as cigarettes.
- More than half the world’s land is used to keep animals (for meat), instead of growing food for people. If you ate less meat, you would be helping to fight starvation.
- People might say soya beans (which vegans and vegetarians eat) are bad for the environment. This is true, but according to W.W.F. more than 80% of soya beans are fed to animals who will later become meat.
- At least 77.5 billion animals are killed each year for food! Think how many lives you could save.
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If everybody had one day when they didn’t eat meat or dairy, it would massively help the environment, animals and your health. Why not ask your school to do Meat-free Mondays? Please try to eat less meat. If you are struggling, here are some websites you could try:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/how_to_go_vegetarian
https://www.healthline.com/health/becoming-vegetarian#benefits
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/vegetarian-and-vegan-diets-q-and-a/