Meatless Monday is a grassroots initiative that is spreading through communities and households across the country. Meatless Monday (www.meatlessmonday.com) is an initiative of The Monday Campaigns, a nonprofit organization working in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.The goal of Meatless Monday is to incorporate healthy, environmentally friendly meat-free meal alternatives once a week to help improve your personal health as well as the health of the planet.
The Meatless Monday trend has already been embraced by some of the nation’s greatest chefs and implemented with resounding success in some of the world’s best restaurants.
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has embraced the movement and implemented Meatless Mondays in all 14 of his renowned restaurants, such as Babbo, Esca, Casa Mono and Carnevino Italian Steakhouse. Yes, even a steakhouse! Every Monday, Chef Batali’s menus feature delicious meatless alternatives for those customers looking to get healthy and help the environment by eliminating 15% of their saturated fat intake by making Monday… meatless.
New York City’s critically-acclaimed restaurant Dovetail, led by renowned chef John Fraser, has also joined the growing global movement. Chef Fraser says business is up significantly on Mondays since he instituted the program. “People are looking for healthy alternatives in increasing numbers so it just makes sense,” he says.
And Wolfgang Puck has introduced Meatless Mondays in Puck Pizzeria & Cucina at Crystals at CityCenter in Las Vegas, with an eye towards expanding the program throughout his restaurant group.
The Meatless Monday initiative is looking for chefs from around the globe to join in their campaign! If you are interested in joining Meatless Monday, there is a toolkit available on their site to help you get started: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/spread-the-movement/
Meatless Monday proves how simple steps can make a large impact on our health and environment. And when chefs like Batali, Fraser and Puck are involved, plant-based meals are not only healthy but absolutely delicious.
Information provided by Lindsey Gardner
Posted 8/10/10.
