Meatless Monday: Animal Planet joins in!

September 21st, 2009

AnimalPLanetlogo Over the past several months, I’ve covered a lot of convincing reasons to adopt Meatless Monday — reducing greenhouse gas emissions, freeing our dependence on foreign oil, helping to stop the spread of global pandemics like H1N1 that are directly linked to factory farming — but there’s an obvious one I’ve skipped over, and that is the lives of the animals themselves.

I’m not going to go all militant vegan on you right now; those of you who read my blogs know that despite my devotion to environmental issues, I still enjoy the occasional organic grass-fed beef burger from time to time. And while there are those who say you cannot be an environmentalist and eat meat, I don’t think we’re going to convince the majority of Americans to suddenly stop eating Big Macs and buffalo wings by showing them footage of what really goes down in a slaughterhouse.

Well, maybe some would change their minds if they actually chose to watch, but the point is that most people faced with guilt-tripping and a big fat lecture will just walk away. That’s why I love Meatless Monday. It’s nonjudgmental, totally doable, and taking that first small step leads to bigger changes (it’s like the gateway drug to a vegetarian diet; even my al pastor-loving husband is now eating veggie burgers for lunch on a regular basis).

Back to the animals. There’s no arguing that those guys are pretty darn cute, which is I’m thrilled to see Animal Planet blogger Wendee Holtcamp embracing Meatless Monday (click here to read her post). Now if only Animal Planet would introduce a show called Friendly Farmstead to join Meerkat Manor and Whale Wars in its regular lineup!

–Jennifer Grayson