Meatless Monday Thrives in Israel

The Meatless Monday campaign led in Israel by former news anchor Miki Haimovich has proven to be quite successful. Recently published figures show that 20.8% of Israelis have adopted the initiative since it was launched one year ago. This reduced consumption of meat in Israel contributes to the quality of the environment and is the equivalent of taking 20,000 vehicles off Israel's roads.

Many workplaces have joined the Meatless Monday initiative in the past year. Intel, HP, Motorola, the Electric Corp in Haifa, some of Teva's offices and a variety of kibbutzim are among them.

The Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv has joined the Meatless Monday initiative presenting vegetarian dishes aimed at making the hospital's patients and staff forget about meat products. The Sourasky Medical Center is not the first hospital to adopt the campaign. It was preceded by Assuta and Bnai Zion, but it is definitely the biggest hospital to join, and the first to implement it in patients' menus as well.

Three municipalities have adopted a city council resolution to promote the campaign: Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, and Modiin.

Health Minister Yael German has announced that in light of the initiative's success, she is considering incorporating the idea into the entire health system.

Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz has declared Meatless Monday a state flagship project which will help advance environmental protection. In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara have adopted the Meatless Monday initiative at the prime minister's official residence.

As part of its support, the Environmental Protection Ministry has launched a new radio campaign explaining why it is important to reduce meat consumption.

Source: Ynetnews

Israel is Going Vegan Crazy, Holds First Vegan Congress!

When it comes to veganism and vegan-friendly culture, Israel is leading the pack while the rest of the world struggles to keep up. Initially, the big story was that the Domino's Pizza chain opted to present its vegan pizza option in Israel. Domino's vegan pizza is not available anywhere else on earth. And now, Israel hosted over 600 people in its first ever Vegan Congress on March 7th of this year.

After discussing matters at the Congress, members of the Vegan-Friendly group plan to drive a “Vegan-Mobile” around the country. They’ll park at a different major city each month to screen videos about veganism and offer various activities for people to learn about the health, environmental, and animal-welfare benefits of maintaining a plant-based diet.

Also, the group plans to have a vegan barbecue (or mangal) on Israel Independence Day as well as a Shavout festival, traditionally associated with eating dairy foods, without cheese. Israelis came out in droves for the last festival: about 10,000 strong.

In addition to discussions about grand plans of furthering the vegan frenzy in Israel, a barbecue for Israel's Independence Day celebration and a vegan mobile, offering information and activities related to veganism as it drives from city to city in Israel were planned with exuberance.

Israeli vegans seek to focus on the positive side of veganism as opposed to the oft cited violence and gore commonly used among vegan groups to steer people away from animal-centric diets.

Israel just might be the easiest country in the world to be vegan.

Read more about it here

Off to enjoy a vegan meal of my own, till next time!

J