Meatless Monday Event

December is Wellness and Sustainability Month at the Sustainability Office. Participate in this month’s event: Meatless Monday! Choosing to eat less meat is an easy way to have a healthier diet and reduce your carbon footprint. The World Health Organization classified processed meats (hot dogs, ham, sausage, beef jerky, corned beef, etc.) as a Group 1 carcinogen meaning that there is strong evidence to conclude that it can lead to colorectal cancer. It also classified red meats (beef, pork, veal, lamb, etc.) as a Group 2A carcinogen meaning there is probably a correlation between red meat consumption and colorectal cancer (https://www.who.int/features/qa/cancer-red-meat/en/).

In addition to that, eating a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of heart disease, the amount of cholesterol you take in, abdominal fat, and your BMI (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322072.php).

And it greatly reduces your carbon footprint! Agriculture is the single largest producer of methane which is 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere! And the meat, egg and dairy industry account for 65% of world-wide Nitrous Oxide emissions. Nitrous Oxide is 300 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide! And a single ¼ pound of beef takes approximately 425 gallons of water to produce. That’s ten full bathtubs, or water for over 1,700 people (https://www.meatlessmonday.com/research/environment/).

Do yourself a solid and make the switch! Have one meal without meat a week!

Volunteer to go meatless this Monday December 10th. Make it official by filling out the Macalester Meatless Monday Pledge!

This post was written by Aaron Backs, a Student Worker in the Sustainability Office