If you haven’t heard already, the LA City Council in California (surprised?) has passed a resolution encouraging citizens to eat meatless meals every Monday. Apparently, attacking animal agriculture is more important than dealing with that city’s high crime, looming debt, and that horrid smog.
I digress.
The proponents of this meatless Mondays campaign claim it helps the impact of climate change and is also a healthier lifestyle for us. So, what’s the real scoop?
Dana Perino, former press secretary to President Bush and Fox News contributor, has it right.
The people involved in this movement, like many of their counterparts, want animal agriculture to take a hit. According to Animal Agriculture Alliance, the woman funding this campaign is Helaine Lerner. To give you a sense of who this woman is:
“New York benefactor — and wellknown radical activist—Helaine Lerner is the primary funder of the current Meatless Monday campaign, organized through the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. Lerner has been involved with the campaign’s new iteration since the beginning. (In 2002, her “Mollylou Foundation” initially purchased the Meatless Monday website domain name.) Between 2000 and 2003, she also gave more than $7 million to the GRACE (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment) Project, an activist organization focused on eliminating both largescale animal agriculture and nuclear weapons. Meatless Monday seeks to eliminate consumer choice —the ability that we each have to determine the right food choices for ourselves and our families. Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future is formally affiliated with GRACE through the HenrySpira/GRACE Project on Industrial Animal Production. Namesake Henry Spira is considered one of the founders of the modern animal rights movement in the U.S. and was a radical opponent of both animal agriculture and life-saving medical research using animals.
In 2003, GRACE partnered with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and another vegan activist organization, Farm Sanctuary, to launch a video smear campaign against modern agriculture called The Meatrix. The animated Matrix spinoff attempted to indoctrinate children with false claims against farmers and ranchers, just as the current Meatless Monday campaign seeks to today with colorful cartoons of farm animals and meatless outreach materials for use in elementary schools.” (Source: What is Meatless Mondays?)
This woman, and her campaign, have a serious agenda behind them.
Besides, since when are we ok with the government telling us when and what we can eat?
If you want more information, check out “What is Meatless Mondays?” and “Why Meat?” These are PDFs that are printable, nicely designed, and packed full of information. They also debunk the claims made by the Meatless Monday advocates (meat is healthy and necessary to a balanced diet).
You might also check out this resource which explains several recent scientific studies that show the benefits of meat, eggs, and dairy in our diets.
Finally, this brochure dismisses the idea that going meatless will somehow lower the impact of climate change.
Again, all of these are easy to print off or link to when trying to inform your friends and family.
Just as with other things, it is so important that farmers spread the truth about these issues. Sure, Meatless Mondays sounds harmless, but the goals of the organization are anything but.
