May 14 2009
Ghent, Belgium: First City in the World to Go Veg for the Planet
Hallelujah for the city of Ghent! They’re going veg for the planet, at least once a week! That’s incredible news! This is an excerpt from a BBC news article that was posted just yesterday, May 12:
Starting this week there will be a regular weekly meatless day, in which civil servants and elected councillors will opt for vegetarian meals.
Ghent means to recognise the impact of livestock on the environment.
The deputy mayor of the city, Tom Balthazar, explains that going veg is good for the environment and cited the famous UN report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”:
18% of the gas emissions is caused by the meat industry.
He also shared another reason that his city is promoting the vegetarian diet:
The second reason is that the fight hunger will go better and smoother if we eat less meat, for producing 1KG of meat we need 7-10 KG of grain and 50,000 liters of water that can help other forms of agriculture.
The city’s leaders are stepping up to be role models: they will be the first to give up meat for a day. Wow. Hip hip hurrah for these great leaders!
And it doesn’t stop there, schoolchildren will also have their day of veg in September to reduce their carbon footprint and help prevent obesity. All very good reasons to go veg!
I love their cute ad - a sailor in an eggplant boat! Let’s hope other cities will follow their example and make the Earth a safer and sustainable home for all of us.
Way to go Ghent!
