International Influence

Lots of stuff going on globally with the MM movement, but first an update on last week's "14 Questions" and responses from loyal MRM readers. The feedback was varied. I got a couple of results of B and low A scores, 24 and 51, which are good scores. One reader commented, "I got 51 probably because we eat meat 3 or 4 times a week." Then there were the scores that were astronomically good - 3 of them over 200 (all 3 of which beat my own score, thanks for the humility check all of you). Their comments were that the questions were interesting and made you think. I hope everybody had a chance to take the questionnaire and play around with the what ifs of increasing or decreasing meat and vegetable consumption, etc.

Now to the world stage, where Meatless Monday, or "Jeudi Veggie," as it's known in France, had a very influential week:

• The Norwegian Army has implemented MM for their troops in "a step to protect our climate." This allows Norway to honour their United Nations peacekeeping requirements at the same time they are working towards the UN resolution to reduce meat consumption by 50%. Great multi-tasking!
• Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that "Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara have decided to join the Meatless Monday initiative." What a great shot in the arm for MM Israel!
• And here at home in frosty Canadia (70cm of snow for us yesterday, what, what!), the Toronto Star printed a great editorial on "Why Mondays should be meatless." My favourite line is their conclusion: "It’s clear that all Canadians can afford to go meat-free one day a week — what is becoming less clear is whether any of us, including our elected officials, can afford not to make cutting down on meat consumption a priority." Words to ponder!

Especially when cutting our meat consumption is so easy to do and holds benefits not only for animals and the environment, but also for own health and well-being. Consider the school in Flushing, Queens (shout out to Fran Drescher!) which cut out meat from their lunchroom. They have seen attendance improve, test scores go up, students' energy increase and the obesity rate has dropped by 2%. And that is another manageable change: one meal a day, one day a week, or Vegan Before 6:00... all of these have had proven, measurably positive outcomes.

For this week's recipe, I have tried to duplicate an old favourite of mine that I haven't had for years because I can't easily find a lard-free, bacon-free version. So I made my own. Early reports from some picky eaters in our focus group said it was delicious, and I hope you will be as enthusiastic.