Set every Thursday aside for going veggie! You might not be a vegetarian, but there’s nothing to stop you from having delicious veggie meals on Thursdays! Every Thursday, try to incorporate veggie meals into your day, and go meatless.
The idea of one veggie day per week was mooted a couple years back by Dr R.K. Pachauri of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Since then, several cities around the world have endorsed the idea, usually choosing either Monday or Thursday.
The first city was Ghent, Belgium. Last year the president-endorsed student green group, SAVE at NUS, declared a Meatout Thursday. Of course, in any case, a veggie day is completely voluntary. It’s a goal that people can strive for if they wish. Organisations can make it easier to eat veggie on Thursdays via recipes, discounts, public education, cooking workshops, food fairs, etc.
You don’t have to feel pressured or anything. Just keep a lookout for the vegetarian restaurants or stalls, or simply order a vegetarian meal at a normal restaurant. Even if you forget, it’s ok as you can do that next week. It’s the thought that counts, and as you get used to the idea, it’s easier for you to remember. Some of you may say that it’s hard to be a vegetarian because you do not know what to eat. Fret not! We have a whole range of recipes and list of eateries that you can check out to get you started on your veggie adventure. This is a chance to explore a whole new cuisine that you may not have experimented with before! You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy vegetarian dishes.
And now you may be wondering, why should I set aside every Thursday for going veggie?
 Different people have different reasons for reducing their meat consumption. The reasons you choose are up to you, but here are three common reasons…
For Health. Scientific research has established that a well-balanced vegetarian diet is healthier than that of a typical meat-eater. Compared with omnivorous diets a varied vegetarian diet contains less saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and more folate, fibre, antioxidants, phytochemicals and carotenoids. Among the greatest of the vegetarian health benefits is reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases since vegetarian diets are low in saturated fats and lower in cholesterol, both of which are the major causes of heart disease. Research studies have also found that vegetarians have a lower incidence of obesity, high blood pressure, and type II diabetes, and a lower risk of cancer, among other diseases. More generally, going veggie one day a week will promote better skin, easier digestion of food, elimination of toxins from the body, and overall health. In this regard, it is not surprising that the former President of the United States Bill Clinton has recently ditched meat and turned to a low-fat diet based on “the vegetables, the fruits, the beans” after having to go through quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 to pay for his infamous meat-heavy and fat-heavy diet. He has since lost more than 25 pounds and lowered his cholesterol dramatically.
For the Environment. Going veggie once a week is the easiest and quickest way to lower your carbon footprint, reduce pollution, and save energy and water. It reduces our carbon footprint since the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide (estimate by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization). It will also help to minimise water usage since the water needs of livestock far, far exceed those of vegetables or grains. It is also a more efficient way of using our scarce resources since we put far more grain into livestock than they return as meat – for example,  cattle consume 16 times as much grain as they produce as meat. This means we are using more land, far more water, far more energy, and far more pesticides per unit of food obtained in livestock production.
For Kindness to Animals. Many of us face a paradox. We want to be kind to animals; in fact, many of us have companion animals or enjoy visiting zoos, etc. At the same time, due to factory farming, the animals whom we eat for food live short, unnatural lives. Veggie Thursday offers a compromise.
The local Veggie Thursday Committee encourages you to do some research into the motivations that interest you and to choose the right reasons for yourself. Veggie Thursday is a completely voluntary choice.
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