Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Belgian city plans 'veggie' days to cut carbon emissions

"The Belgian city of Ghent is about to become the first in the world to go vegetarian at least once a week."
[...]
"The UN says livestock is responsible for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, hence Ghent's declaration of a weekly 'veggie day'."

BBC NEWS | Europe | Belgian city plans 'veggie' days
Not an entirely new idea -- various religions have had days of fasting or food restrictions (often, curiously enough, meaning no meat) for centuries. Still, nice to see the city of Ghent making an official connection between meat-eating and climate hazards.

But why stop at just one day a week? (Also not a new idea of course -- various religions and non-theistic philosophies had also advocated vegetarianism for centuries.) Anyway, climate change concerns provide a new, free-standing reason to go meatless, and this notion may be finally starting to go mainstream in Western countries.

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