Meat Free Meal Day
A very popular event that took place during Earth Week was the Meat Free Meal Day on Friday 25th June. Everyone had the option to use phones to take pictures of their meal in order to upload it onto EcoSpot, to help us to reach our target for meat free meals, which we have now reached. There were a number of meat free choices ranging from burgers, cheese and onion pasty, pizza and more. This is a new scheme that we would love to put into place from the beginning of the next academic year, called Monthly Meat-Free Mondays. It allows students to eat delicious, healthy meals while helping the environment.
This is also a great habit to develop at home. By replacing meat with vegetarian sources of protein, we can reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and save water, as it takes far less water to produce plants than meat. Going veggie requires 2 ½ times less the amount of land needed to grow food, compared to a meat-based diet, saving agricultural land and produce. In addition, it has many health benefits and promotes healthy eating habits while caring for the environment. By cutting off processed meat you decrease your risk of cancer while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. It lowers your risk of heart disease and incorporates more fibre, minerals and nutrients which are present in the vegetable substitutes to meat and essential for a balanced diet. There is a reduced risk of heart failure, heart disease and stroke, reduced levels of cholesterol, reduces obesity and reduces risk of cancer. Reducing weekly shopping costs and carbon emissions, land waste, deforestation and much more. It helps battle world-hunger as ½ of all crops are used to feed farm animals. It reduces the risk of species extinction. It helps us make better choices for our health and the environment.
While cutting off meat altogether is a very large commitment, reserving one day for meat free meals is a small commitment with large results.
By Tatiana Year 8, Dora Year 9, and Sana Year 9