- During World War I, the U.S. Food Administration urged families to reduce consumption of key staples to aid the war effort. “Food Will Win the War,” the government proclaimed, and “Meatless Monday” and “Wheatless Wednesday” were introduced to encourage Americans to do their part.
- Herbert Hoover, then head of the Food Administration, spearheaded implementation of the campaign. In addition to advertising, his office created and distributed recipe booklets and menus in newspapers, magazines and pamphlets.
- The effect was overwhelming. Some 10 million families, 7,000 hotels and nearly 425,000 food dealers pledged to observe national meatless days. In November 1917, New York City hotels saved some 116 tons of meat over the course of just one week. According to a 1929 Saturday Evening Post article, “Americans began to look seriously into the question of what and how much they were eating. Lots of people discovered for the first time that they could eat less and feel no worse – frequently for the better”.
- The campaign returned during World War II and beyond, when Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman used rationing to help feed war-ravaged Europe.
- In 2003 Meatless Monday was recreated as public health awareness program in association with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future. The campaign was endorsed by over 20 schools of public health. Its goal was to help Americans reduce their risk of preventable disease by cutting back saturated fat.
- In 2009 the Meatless Monday message was broadened to include the health and environmental benefits of moderating meat consumption.
- Since then, the meatless Monday movement has taken off globally. In June 2009 Paul McCartney and his daughters Stella and Mary launched Support Meat-free Monday in the U.K. Rajan Zed, the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, voiced his support and encouraged others to do the same.
- In May 2009, the city of Ghent became the first city to mandate a meat-free day: veggie Thursday or “Donnerstag Veggietag.”
- Also, in June 2009, Israeli magazine Al Hashulchan (On the Table) introduced the Sheni Tzimchoni (Vegetarian Monday) initiative. Dozens of Israel’s top restaurants participated by showcasing innovative meatless meals.
