A campaign encouraging people to go meat-free at the beginning of the week to cut carbon emissions has been met with a lukewarm response in Kent.
Sir Paul McCartney launched the Meat Free Mondays initiative this week by asking households to go vegetarian one day a week to help slow global warming.
His campaign is backed by a range of celebrities from Joanna Lumley to Kevin Spacey.
It comes after the Flemish city of Ghent launched ‘Veggiedag’, or Veggie Day, in May making Thursdays free of meat and fish.
The pioneering idea, which is not compulsory, is led by the local authority and has seen meat-free meals served in schools and public buildings, including one hospital.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has said the most useful step ordinary people could take to help combat climate change would be to have one meat-free day a week.
People should then go on to reduce their meat intake further, he said.
Kent on Sunday asked the county’s public services if they were considering following Ghent’s lead.
A spokesman for Kent County Council said: “While the efforts of Paul McCartney and the town of Ghent are laudable, we offer a vegetarian option everyday in our offices, services and schools.
“We educate children and young people about having a good balanced diet, doing exercise and understanding where their food comes from.”
But Medway Maritime NHS Foundation Trust said it would “consider” promoting veggie options.
“Because some people don’t like vegetables and because some people need meat because they are suffering from poor nutrition, this would be difficult to enforce, but we certainly wouldn’t rule anything out,” a spokeswoman said.
“We will consider promoting the vegetarian options on our menus for patients and visitors for nutritional and environmental purposes.”
Meat production accounts for 18 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, outstripping transportation at 14 per cent.
Millions of acres of rain forest are cleared for cattle and to grow animal feed each year, which accelerates climate change.
The methane emitted from animals is 23 times worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
The NHS contributes three per cent of all carbon emission in England, and if it were a country it would be ranked 81st as the biggest polluter between Estonia and Bahrain, according to 2004 figures.
Saving Carbon, Improving Health, which was published in January, plans how the NHS will reduce its carbon footprint and among the proposals is that hospitals could offer fewer meat and dairy products.
But the idea of pushing a meat-free day did not appeal in east Kent. A spokeswoman for East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said: “East Kent provides vegetarian options both in the canteens and for inpatients.
“Inpatient meals are controlled via the dietetics department. We continue to explore any possibilities which will benefit our patients, staff, and local community.”
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust did not response to the enquiry.
The principle of reducing meat consumption is gathering support around the world. Germany’s federal environment agency went as far as advising people to only eat mean on special occasions.
In the US, public health schools, led by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, have also been running a ‘meatless Mondays’ campaign.
For more information go to www.meatfreemondays.co.uk.
POSTED: 21/06/2009 08:00:00
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