The Benefits of Meat-Free Monday

Improve students' health: Reducing the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products has been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and other serious conditions. It's never too late—or too early—to change our habits for the better.

Protect the environment: A 2006 United Nations report summarized the devastation caused by the meat industry, calling it "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." Furthermore, commercial fishing is wiping out biodiversity as miles of nets sweep up all the fish in their path and take coral-based habitats with them.

Fight world hunger: There is more than enough food in the world to feed the entire human population, yet some people are still starving. Worldwatch Institute writes, "[M]eat consumption is an inefficient use of grain—the grain is used more efficiently when consumed by humans. Continued growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grain to animals, creating competition for grain between affluent meat-eaters and the world's poor."

Help animals: Intensive farming and the transport and slaughter of animals cause animals fear, pain, and stress. Also, when dragged from the ocean depths, fish undergo painful decompression. By reducing our meat and fish consumption, we can decrease the number of animals who go through these processes.