We post most Foodstuffs updates on Thursdays, but today we’re looking at something that takes place on Mondays – Meatless Mondays. The idea is that even those who regularly partake of meat will eschew it for a single night, for a host of reasons, including health or environmental benefits.
The environment is the reason why Norway's military has adopted meatless cooking on Mondays; they're looking to reduce the carbon footprint that comes with raising livestock for food.
David Brooks, who writes the weekly Granite Geek science column and blog for The Nashua Telegraph, has been cutting back his own meat consumption for a different reason: his daughter went all-vegetarian and he decided it was too difficult trying to come up with two dinners each night.
Brooks says dinner used to always start with the question "what meat am I having?" But, he says, he's come to appreciate the benefits of a more varied diet. As he explains to All Things Considered host Brady Carlson, his latest GraniteGeek column proposes “wedgetarianism" - a few more meat-free meals a week even for those who aren't looking to entirely forego chicken or steak.