One day, in the distant future the world will be Vegan. That’s my opinion anyway, I just think it will happen and the human race will look back in history and wonder what on earth we were thinking of eating animals. I love the quote by Gary Smith, an activist who said:
“150 years ago, they would have thought you were absurd if you advocated for the end of slavery. 100 years ago, they would have laughed at you for suggesting that women should have the right to vote. 50 years ago, they would object to the idea of African Americans receiving equal rights under the law. 25 years ago they would have called you a pervert if you advocated for gay rights. They laugh at us now for suggesting that animal slavery be ended. Some day they won’t be laughing.”
I’m not saying it will happen in my lifetime, or even my children’s but I really believe it will and its going faster in that direction than I ever thought possible.
Look at the supermarket shelves and the range of new products adorning the Ve sign. I was beside myself yesterday when I went into Waitrose and saw the Vegan chilled section. Creamy Mushroom Pie, the most amazing Nuggets, Vegan Ham, Meatballs and much more. Two and a half years ago when I became Vegan, it was near impossible to find anything like this in a high street supermarket. Tesco’s is leading the way too with a huge range of own brand vegan frozen food and a great selection from other producers too.
Look at Meatless Monday and how that has taken on a life of its own over recent years. The whole idea behind the campaign is to challenge and encourage people to leave meat off the menu for one day a week to benefit their own health and that of the planet. In America whole cities such as Los Angeles have joined in the effort, declaring Mondays meat-free days. Countless offices and schools have opted to participate – and the impact that this single meal swap has had is enormous.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been on the frontlines of promoting Meatless Mondays, and has successfully helped transform whole school districts (such as the L.A. Unified School District), corporate cafeterias, and hospital menus to feature meatless dishes once a week.
A study into the impact of the HSUS’s Meatless Monday campaign across 263 school districts showed that in the past five years alone, meatless meals have helped keep over 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – that’s equivalent to driving 1.4 billion miles! Not to mention, they’ve helped save around 10.3 million farm animals.
Long may this continue and include all the other days of the week eventually!
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