June 3rd, 2019
June 5th is National Veggie Burger Day! Whether you’re celebrating or always on the lookout for a quick and easy way to satisfy your burger craving, there are plenty of places to do so across the U.S. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite fast food joints that are serving plant-based goodness
Climate Week NYC, (led by The Climate Group) takes place this year from September 23-29. The summit is held alongside the UN General Assembly and brings together international leaders from business, government and civil society to showcase global climate action and to discuss solutions. While complex issues are being discussed, there is a simple action we can all take to have a big impact: participate in Eat for Climate Week.
Eat for Climate Week seeks to raise awareness of the climate benefits of shifting to a more plant-based diet, as well as highlighting how delicious plant-based foods are. Start the week off with Meatless Monday on September 23rd and keep your climate-friendly eating going all week long.
If you happen to be in NYC during Climate Week you can attend summit events and show your support for Eating for Climate Week by eating at one of the participating restaurants showcasing delicious and climate-friendly dishes. This week-long restaurant campaign is in partnership with Meatless Monday and the Food and Climate Alliance.
Another great option for Meatless Monday on September 23 during Climate Week NYC is to stop by Cinnamon Snail’s food truck and try their delicious and FREE plant-based samples made with plant-based Gardein products. Cinnamon Snail vegan food truck will be serving up FREE gardein plant-based dishes, including Morita Chili Grilled “Beefless” Breakfast Burritos and Habanero Buffalo Chick’n Sliders. In NYC? Join us on Monday, Sept 23rd from 10am-2pm on Fifth Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets in Manhattan. Follow @MeatlessMonday, @gardein and @CinnamonSnail for more details.
Can’t make it to New York? Don’t worry, you can still support the event and fight climate change by going Meatless Monday at home or in your office. If you don’t already observe Meatless Monday, what better week to start? If you already go meet-free once a week, then how about going meatless for all of climate week?
Meatless Monday is a global movement, followed by millions, with a simple message: one day a week, cut out meat for personal health and the health of the planet. To find out more, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.
There are plenty of reasons to eat more plant-based foods. For NFL linebacker Derrick Morgan, who most recently played on the Tennessee Titans, the reason was clear: He wanted to become an even better athlete. “[Derrick] wanted to have a competitive edge for training on and off the field,” Morgan’s wife, Chef Charity Morgan, said. After doing extensive research on using plant-based foods as fuel, Derrick decided to fully commit to plant-based eating — cold turkey — back in 2017. His wife Charity and two young kids, soon followed his lead. Now, the whole Morgan clan eats all plant-based, all the time. But this is hardly where their plant-based story ends.
The Morgans’ new approach to eating soon made its way onto the football field. Charity, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained professional chef, gradually transitioned her cooking style to plant-based and, with that, began to serve meals to other Tennessee Titans. “For me, it was just re-educating the guys about what food looks like. Once they realized they could have lasagna, enchiladas and mac and cheese in plant-based form, they were so stoked,” she said. Charity cooks up plant-based dishes for many of the players, who’ve found that the meals leave them energized and ready to play. “A lot of them tell me they feel faster on the field, they feel more energetic,” Charity said of the players, adding that many said they didn’t feel sluggish like they normally do after a big lunch.
Chef Charity’s recipes are always evolving, but there are a few staples she said the players request on the reg. Her plant-based truffle mac and cheese is by far the players’ most beloved recipe, and her tacos, which she makes with soyrizo, black beans, bell peppers, onion and garlic are another favorite.
While there is a wealth of information around plant-based eating, Chef Charity said protein is often the players’ first concern when they sign up for her meals. She said being an educator comes as part of her job as a chef: Once she breaks down the beneficial nutrients in foods like vegetables, lentils and legumes, she said the players’ worries are easily quelled. The chef labels all of the players’ meals clearly so they know what to expect before digging in, and every dish is protein-packed. Her “Pro-Bowl,” a mix of lentils, chickpeas, hemp seeds, kale and spinach, is incredibly protein-dense.
While many of the Titans have incorporated plant-based eating into their lives (and their training), not all have committed as wholly as the Morgan family has — and, as Chef Charity put it, that’s completely OK. “I tell people all the time, even if you start with Meatless Monday, that’s great. I encourage that,” she said, adding that Meatless Monday often ends up being a gateway to even more plant-based eating. “People realize they create their own [unnecessary] barriers, but once they try [to eat a little less meat], they start to realize that it’s really not so difficult. We create our own roadblocks that don’t really exist in reality,” she said.
So while conventional wisdom may tell us that professional football players need a meat-heavy diet to perform their best, the real proof is in the Titans.
Learn more about plant-based athletes from the experts – check out Game Changers the movie. “A UFC fighter discovers an elite group of athletes proving everything he’d been taught about protein was a lie.” This documentary breaks down the stereotypes, myths and realities of protein and strength around plant-based eating for professional athletes. Check it out in your local theaters.
Climate Week NYC, (led by The Climate Group) takes place this year from September 23-29. The summit is held alongside the UN General Assembly and brings together international leaders from business, government and civil society to showcase global climate action and to discuss solutions. While complex issues are being discussed, there is a simple action we can all take to have a big impact: participate in Eat for Climate Week.
Eat for Climate Week seeks to raise awareness of the climate benefits of shifting to a more plant-based diet, as well as highlighting how delicious plant-based foods are. Start the week off with Meatless Monday on September 23rd and keep your climate-friendly eating going all week long.
If you happen to be in NYC during Climate Week you can attend summit events and show your support for Eating for Climate Week by eating at one of the participating restaurants showcasing delicious and climate-friendly dishes. This week-long restaurant campaign is in partnership with Meatless Monday and the Food and Climate Alliance.
Another great option for Meatless Monday on September 23 during Climate Week NYC is to stop by Cinnamon Snail’s food truck and try their delicious and FREE plant-based samples made with plant-based Gardein products. Keep an eye out on @veganlunchtruck on Twitter to see its location status.
Can’t make it to New York? Don’t worry, you can still support the event and fight climate change by going Meatless Monday at home or in your office. If you don’t already observe Meatless Monday, what better week to start? If you already go meet-free once a week, then how about going meatless for all of climate week?
Meatless Monday is a global movement, followed by millions, with a simple message: one day a week, cut out meat for personal health and the health of the planet. To find out more, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.
On Monday, August 26, three finalists competed to be crowned the Western Foodservice Show Meatless Monday Rapid Fire Champion. Finalists were chosen from a pool of chefs who submitted original meatless recipes and videos. Chef Karla Flores-Ybaceta, last year’s Rapid Fire champion, returned to compete this year and reclaimed her title.
The competition was judged by a panel of experts including (from left to right) Jenny Ross, Executive Chef, Tribest & Consulting Chef, Jenny Ross Living Foods; Seizan Dreux Ellis, Executive Chef, Café Gratitude; Leslie Durso, Vegan Chef and Wellness Expert; and Dana Smith, Campaign Director, Meatless Monday.
The three competing finalists were:
Jodi Taffel, “The Fabulous Bacon Babe”
Mark Angelo Crisostomo, Chef
Karla Flores-Ybaceta, Executive Chef, Mikhuna Authentic Peruvian Cuisine
Chefs had 20 minutes to prepare their dishes while discussing the ingredients, flavors, and health benefits. Each chef prepared their favorite meatless dish for the panel of judges. Jodi Taffel, “The Fabulous Bacon Babe,” prepared her Lentil Empanadas, a favorite among her catering clients.
Jodi Taffel’s Lentil Empanadas
Chef Mark Angelo Crisostomo served a Beet Salad with Chopped Endive and Arugula.
Mark Angelo Crisostomo’s Beet Salad
But the dish that made the judges lick their plates clean was from Chef Karla, who also won last year’s bacon-themed competition. Her Quinoa Tamales are a variation of the popular dish and a favorite from her food truck and catering business Mikhuna Authentic Peruvian Cuisine. She serves them with “sarza criolla,” a Peruvian sauce of marinated onions and tops them with her famous Aji Verde, a Peruvian green hot sauce, which she is planning to start bottling.
Karla Flores-Ybaceta’s Winning Quinoa Tamales
After receiving a duo Associates of Science Degree in both Culinary Arts and Baking and Pastry from Long Beach City College, Chef Karla studied at L’Ecole Lenotre in Paris, where she received a Grande Diplome in Culinary Arts and Baking and Pastry. Before starting her own business, she served as an Executive Chef, training with Master Chef Romain Bertain, as well as a Private Chef for Her Royal Highness Princess Rima Al Saud and the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.
Congratulations!
Try all the chefs’ recipes this Meatless Monday and let us know how they came out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Getting your whole family to join you for Meatless Monday is wonderful, but sometimes kids may not be eager to try new fruits and vegetables or experiment with new foods. However, if they are involved in cooking, research shows that kids are more likely to try foods.
The Kids Cook Monday, another Monday Campaigns initiative, encourages families to set aside Monday nights for cooking and eating together as a family. The Kids Cook Monday website provides family-friendly recipes, perfect for Meatless Monday, as well as a free downloadable e-cookbook, The Family Dinner Date Cookbook. Each recipe features a fun format that divides cooking tasks into those kids can do by themselves, those they can do together with an adult, and tasks adults should handle.
When kids pitch in making meals, they’re proud of their accomplishment and excited to eat the food they’ve helped to make. Cooking together also provides a natural time for discussing the impact that food choices have on our bodies and the environment. The more educated kids are about food, the more open they’ll be to healthy, sustainable food choices.
There’s no better time to make Meatless Monday a family activity than September, which is Family Meals Month. Family Meals Month is a nationwide event aimed at supporting families in enjoying more meals together.
The best part is the time you’ll be spending together preparing the meals. The time you share chatting as you cook together becomes even more important as they reach adolescence and move into those tricky teenage years.
The family that cooks together, eats together.
Families eating together leads to positive things. Research from Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse suggests that kids who eat family dinners get better grades in school, develop better communication skills, and are less likely to try drugs. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics found that kids who ate dinner with their family regularly were less likely to be obese.
Meatless Monday can improve personal health and the health of the planet. Sharing it with your kids by cooking and eating together may also help improve the health of your family.
Learn more about how to cook with your family in the upcoming Kids Cook Monday Twitter chat for Family Meals Month on September 9 from 2-3 PM EST. Follow @KidsCookMonday and #KidsCookFamilyMeals on Twitter to join in!
Learn more at KidsCookMonday.org. If you cook a meatless meal with your family, we’d love to see us. Tag us @MeatlessMonday and @KidsCookMonday on social media.
It’s back to school time. For many students that means back to Meatless Monday time, because more and more schools are observing Meatless Monday.
Students and schools around the country want to take action to fight climate change and address health issues. Meatless Monday is a simple and effective way for students, parents and administrators to develop long-term healthy eating habits that also address the environmental issues associated with meat consumption.
It’s What Students Want
One of the largest foodservice companies in the country, Whitsons Culinary Group, launched a Meatless Monday initiative after being prompted by student surveys requesting more vegetarian and vegan menu options. They now offer meatless, plant-based options in all 95 school districts they service in the Northeast.
New York City serves over 1.1 million Meatless Monday meals every week to students in all five boroughs. The program was initiated by student demand and proved by a successful pilot program in Brooklyn that quickly expanded to include all schools.
Bring Meatless Monday To Your School
If your child’s school doesn’t take part in Meatless Monday, you can help them get started with free and easy to use resources from Meatless Monday. Check out our K-12 resource page for everything you need to begin the conversation with administrators and kick-off a successful Meatless Monday school program.
Additional Meatless Monday K-12 Resources:
• Research on the health and environmental benefits of choosing plant-based foods instead of meat
• Implementation guides for starting Meatless Monday in school cafeterias
• Marketing materials that can be used to promote Meatless Monday onsite or through social media
• Downloadable K-12 cookbooks
• Sign up for weekly newsletters with Meatless Monday recipes and news
• Sign-up to become a Meatless Monday Ambassador for more K-12 tips and resources
Do you lead a school or manage a school district? Schools looking to implement Meatless Monday programs can consult with our team, which includes experts from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
Contact us for additional information or to learn how to implement a program at your school.
Already have a great Meatless Monday program going at your school? Keep us posted on all of your great work! Email us at: info@meatlessmonday.com
Meatless Monday is a global movement, followed by millions, with a simple message: one day a week, cut out meat for personal health and the health of the planet. To find out more, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.
August 19th, is National Potato Day and this year it falls on a Monday, which gives you the perfect opportunity to start your week off with a meatless meal. Many people think the only way to eat potatoes are sliced, fried and stuffed into a foil bag. If you’re one of these people, you’re missing out on wonderful potatoes recipes that are much healthier and tastier. This week, to celebrate National Potato Day, we are featuring our favorite potato recipes which are simple to make and extremely tasty.
Want more recipe inspiration? We’ve got tons of plant-based recipes to keep you cooking all summer long. Check them out here. Let us know which recipes are your favorites by tagging @MeatlessMonday in your plant-based cooking posts! #MeatlessMonday
Meatless Monday is a global movement, followed by millions, with a simple message: one day a week, cut out meat for personal health and the health of the planet. To find out more, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram!
Gardein, a product line of meat-free foods, wanted to highlight their new products within a college setting so they reached out to the Meatless Monday team for help. Meatless Monday instantly connected them to Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. The school’s award-winning dining hall already offers vegan and vegetarian food choices on a daily basis and encourages students to join in meat-free dining on Meatless Monday. Hendrix also works with local farmers and implements recycling programs to keep their menu local and sustainable.
A Hendrix chef shows off the Gardein burger
The three parties came up with the concept of a “Meatless Monday Gardein Party,” a day the school cafeteria would set aside to sample new plant-based Gardein burgers, meatballs and crumbles. One of the school’s chefs, Marshall Hines, helped create the menu. The “party” was a huge hit for both the staff and student body.
Cindy Mosley, R.D., Hendrix College Associate Director of Dining Services, said, “We highlighted the event when we submitted an entry to the Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards. This award considers the dining facility as a whole by rating menu, merchandising and presentation, marketing, nutrition and wellness, and sustainability.”
When members of the staff attended the award ceremony at the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) National Conference they received great news. Hendrix College and the “Gardein Party” promotion was awarded 2nd place in the category of “Residential Dining Facility.” Congratulations Hendrix, well done!
If you’re interested in introducing Meatless Monday to your K-12 school, college or university, we provide everything you need to get started. Our free downloadable guides include simple steps to get going, engaging graphics, proven keys to success, and science-backed research from our partner, The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
Grilled and savory fruit recipes are a great way to mix-up your summer menu with new flavors. Watermelon, peaches and pineapple are fantastic grilling options that are easy to make and add a delicious pop of sweet and smoky taste to a variety of dishes. Berries, mangoes and citrus fruits ramp up the style and flavor of any salad, grain bowl or soup. The possibilities are endless.
Check out a few of our favorite savory summer fruit recipes that are packed with fresh and enticing tastes sure to impress your friends, family and dinner guests.
Want more recipe inspiration? We’ve got tons of plant-based recipes to keep you cooking all summer long. Check them out here. Let us know which recipes are your favorites by tagging @MeatlessMonday in your plant-based cooking posts! #MeatlessMonday
Meatless Monday is a global movement, followed by millions, with a simple message: one day a week, cut out meat for personal health and the health of the planet. To find out more, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram!
July 30th is International Day of Friendship. To celebrate the occasion, we’re highlighting how our meatless friends, global partners and businesses around the world are working together to reduce the amount of meat we eat. From schools bringing millions of Meatless Monday meals to students to fast food restaurants launching plant-based items, people and business from all walks of life are making sustainable meatless options more mainstream. Please feel free to share any examples below with your friends and followers.
Global Meatless Monday partners came together for the NYC Climate March
Meatless Monday in Cities and Countries
Cities are increasingly including meat reduction initiatives in their health and climate policies. The citizens and leaders of Ghent Belgium worked together to declare a weekly meatless day in 2009, and we’re seeing more and more cities get on board:
Sacramento, CA: Sacramento adopted Meatless Monday in 2016. The city’s Golden 1 Center (home court for the Sacramento Kings) joined the initiative and launched Meatless Monday in 2019.
Taiwan: Green Monday founder David Yeung, along with Mary McCartney (Sir Paul McCartney’s daughter), recently attended the launch of Green Monday in Taiwan.
France: Thousands united to sign a petition called “Lundi Vert,” or “Green Monday,” which has unified 500 public figures and calls on consumers to avoid eating meat and fish every Monday.
Israel: Israel’s Miki Haimovich, who launched Meatless Monday in her country in 2012, recently became one of the 29 women to become a Knesset staff member.
Students celebrate the announcement that all NYC public schools will go Meatless Monday
Student activists, parents, city officials and school boards around the world are working together to launch Meatless Monday school programs. São Paulo, Brazil implemented Meatless Monday lunches for 1.1 million students. A school in Bulacan, Philippines has been a pioneer in promoting Meatless Monday for almost a decade. Meanwhile, in England, more than 100 primary schools introduced a Meat-Free Monday program and will offer meat-free meal options every day of the week. By the start of the 2019-2020 school year, all New York City public schools will serve Meatless Monday lunches, reaching 1.1 million students every week.
Quick service chain, Del Taco launched plant-based menu items using Beyond Meat® and markets to customers for Meatless Monday. Photo: Del Taco
Businesses Joining the Plant-based Movement
Meatless products are crowding both supermarket aisles and restaurant menus, and consumers are grateful. Beyond Meat recently went public, while mega meat company Tyson launched its own meatless “chicken” nuggets earlier this summer. Tesco, the largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, officially moved its vegan products to the meat aisle.
Fast food chains are also doing their part:
Burger King now offers a meatless Whopper.
Red Robin added the Impossible Burger to its menu.
Del Taco now serves meatless Beyond Meat options across all 580 of its stores.
Qdoba announced that Impossible meat will be served at its restaurants nationwide.
McDonald’s is now selling a vegan burger in Germany.
This International Day of Friendship, recruit your friends and family to join you in cutting out meat one day a week to benefit their health and help the planet. Celebrate together with a friendly meatless meal, and check out our recipe gallery for new plant-based inspiration.
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