Meat Free Week is dedicated to raising awareness of the amount of meat Britons eat and the impact this has on human health, the welfare of farm animals and the environment.
Originating in Australia in 2013, Meat Free Week is set to roll out globally with the UK leading the way. The premise is to get people thinking and talking about meat, it’s a challenge that everyone can get involved in. Meat Free Week is not afraid to talk about meat, instead it wants us to talk about it much, much more.
Britons eat more than double the world average of meat consumption (at 41.9kg per person).
High consumption of red and processed meat is associated with colon cancer and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The British are not eating enough fruit and vegetables. According to the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), the national average falls well short of the 400g minimum consumption recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Livestock and meat production have been identified as major contributors to climate change worldwide.
At a time when some 800 million people suffer from malnutrition, 1/3 of the world’s cereal harvest is fed to farm animals – enough to feed almost three billion people.
2/3 of farm animals (over 50 billion) in the world are now factory farmed each year. It is the number one cause of animal cruelty in the world today.
Sign up and donate:
Everyone can sign up for the Meat Free Week challenge; go without meat, including seafood, for seven days and raise money to support Meat Free Week (a registered UK charity) as well as for one of three leading charities – Beating Bowel Cancer, Compassion in World Farming and World Land Trust.
Register here to be sponsored as an individual or as a team and encourage others to join. Or, simply donate money directly to the charities here. After registering, downloading the App from App Store or Google Play is a great way to get friends and family on the spot to sponsor whilst out and about. Monitor progress, share messages, get sponsors via Facebook and have friends and family make a donation right from the fundraiser’s smartphone.
After researching the topic, founders Lainie Bracher and Melissa Hobbs, realised the negative impact the large amount of meat we consume has on our health, animal welfare and the environment.
“We’re really excited to be launching in the UK. Ultimately, our goal is to get the world thinking and talking about how much meat we eat and how it’s produced. We know it’s a big ask to cut back something you love to eat, but when people know the facts, we’re confident they’ll commit to eating less meat and when they do, make the choice to buy higher welfare meat” says co-founder Melissa Hobbs.
The campaign has attracted a wide range of supporters who are embracing the cause including leading chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Bill Granger, Bruno Loubet, Jose Pizarro, Anna Hansen, Martin Morales, Bryn Williams, Mark Hix and Skye Gyngell, as well as, Lucy Boyd, Russell Norman, Rachel Khoo, Henry Dimbleby, Deliciously Ella, Antonio Carluccio, Allegra McEvedy and Thomasina Miers.
These leading chefs and personalities have provided a range of delicious meat-free recipes for the campaign such as:
Crispy deep-fried aubergine fritters with honey, Jose Pizarro
Baked leek & goats cheese risotto & apple celery salad, Bill Granger
Linguine with a deliciously spicy pumpkin seed pesto, Thomasina Miers
Paneer and Mango salad, Dishoom
Chickpea and chard soup, Skye Gyngell
Stuffed rolled peppers, Antonio Carluccio
Asparagus & duck egg salad with sweet miso dressing, Caravan
Apple Tart Normande with calvados & caramel sauce, Bruno Loubet
The full list of recipe is available on the Meat Free Week website www.meatfreeweek.org.
Jamie Oliver is proud to support Meat Free Week and says, “I’m a passionate meat lover, but I fully support Meat Free Week – it’s a wonderful excuse to focus on the incredible bounty, flavours and colours of veggies. There’s no question from what world experts are telling us that having more of a plant-based diet, and eating less meat, is the key to a longer, healthier life, and super good for the planet too. For me, it’s all about quality over quantity when it comes to meat and training your cooking skills to make vegetables incredible. I hope you support this week, and if you can’t, at least smash out a Meat-free Monday. I’m averaging two or three meat-free days a week at the moment and I’m loving it.”
Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney are also supporting Meat Free Week, they say, “Taking part in Meat Free Week is a fun and easy way to have a positive impact on the planet and on our health. It’s also a way to become familiar with a whole variety of meat free foods and extend our range of imaginative menus. Enjoy!”
Henry Dimbleby of LEON says, “I’m a life-long meat lover, but we’ve drifted into eating almost entirely vegetables in our house. They taste every bit as good, are cheaper, more fun to cook and leave you feeling wonderful, if a little smug.”
Mark Sainsbury of The Zetter Group and Sustainable Restaurant Association says, “I love that Meat Free Week is bringing the issue of our global appetite for meat to the table. We don’t think about the impact of our excessive meat consumption enough, its carbon and water footprints and the often intensive and environmentally damaging farming methods used; it takes 15,000 litres of water and 7 kilos of grain per 1kg of beef! At Grain Store we are not a vegetarian restaurant but we proudly place the vegetable in the starring role of every dish, we like to challenge the orthodoxy of meat as the primary ingredient.”
Anna Hansen MBE from The Modern Pantry says, “I fully support the Meat Free Week campaign with the benefits not only extending to ones own health but to that of the planet. As a general rule I find the better the quality of the meat the better the flavour so spending a little more and eating it less often is a no brainer. Always look for the best and most ethically reared meat you can.”
Ella Woodward from DeliciouslyElla.com says, “I’m excited to support Meat Free Week as it encourages people to be more adventurous with food and try new fruits, veggies and whole grains, which is amazing for our bodies and for the environment.”
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Editor’s Notes
The Meat Free Week website is packed with information on the campaign as well as delicious meat free recipes and information on how to register to take part.
For further information, visit www.meatfreeweek.org
FB: meat free week
Twitter: @meatfreeweekorg
instagram: @meatfreeweek
For press requests please contact Gemma Bell PR Ltd
Gemma Bell and Petra Costandi / 020 7354 0100 / gemma@gemmabell.com / petra@gemmabell.com
Compassion in World Farming
Compassion in World Farming was founded in 1967 by a British dairy farmer who became horrified at the development of intensive factory farming. Today Compassion is the leading farm animal welfare organisation dedicated to ending factory farming and achieving humane and sustainable food. With headquarters in the UK, we have offices across Europe in the US, China and South Africa.
“We’re thrilled to be part of Meat Free Week. Most of us are eating too much meat and this is having a terrible effect on our health, the environment and animal welfare – it’s a perfect storm. Factory farming has led to ‘cheap’ meat being widely available, fuelling a culture of binge meat eating. For those of us who do eat meat, we need to move away from over eating low-quality, lower welfare meat and enjoy smaller amounts of good-quality, higher welfare meat. Meat Free Week is a great way for people to explore what the food on our plates is doing to people, the planet and animals, and to see how small changes to our diet can – literally – mean the world (and make us happier and healthier along the way!). It’s a win-win.” Jonty Whittleton, Senior Campaigns Manager, Compassion in World Farming,
Jon Bennett
Head of Media
, Compassion in World Farming
Tel: 01483 521 952 Email: jon.bennett@ciwf.org.uk
Beating Bowel Cancer
Beating Bowel Cancer is the support and campaigning charity for everyone affected by bowel cancer. We provide vital practical and emotional help – on the phone, digitally and face to face. We’re proud to run the UK’s only nurse-led specialist helpline for bowel cancer which patients call a ‘lifeline’.
We bring patients together to share invaluable experience and support, through our website, social media and major events. We campaign tirelessly to raise public awareness of bowel cancer and ensure Governments and health services provide the highest quality care and treatments.
Elspeth Massey
Head of Communications, Beating Bowel Cancer
Harlequin House
Tel: 020 8973 0008 Email: Elspeth.Massey@beatingbowelcancer.org
World Land Trust (WLT)
World Land Trust is an international conservation charity, which protects the world’s most biologically important and threatened habitats acre by acre. Since its foundation in 1989, WLT has funded partner organisations around the world to create reserves, and give permanent protection to habitats and wildlife. The mission of the World Land Trust is: To protect and sustainably manage natural ecosystems of the world; To conserve their biodiversity, with emphasis on threatened habitats and endangered species; To develop partnerships with local individuals, communities and organisations to engage support and commitment among the people who live in project areas; To raise awareness, in the UK and elsewhere, of the need for conservation, to improve understanding and generate support through education, information and fundraising.
Sarah Salord
McCluskey International
Tel: 020 8747 2170 Email: sarah@mccluskey.co.uk
Meat Free Week, Meat Free Mondays and Meat Free May (Friends Of the Earth) are all working towards reducing global meat consumption.