Green Paws

Environmenta
l Alliance
Erica Bray

[BRINGING MEATLESS
MONDAY TO
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY]
Recent concerns regarding climate change and human health have sparked the
Meatless Monday movement. Introduced in 2003, Meatless Mondays have been
integrated into Colleges and Universities across the US, as well as around the
world. The extensive benefits associated with a meatless diet would help to
improve student health as well as the sustainability of NIUs campus.

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In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults 20 and older were overweight; with 2.8 million
dying each year.1 These numbers have been increasing since the mid-20th century, largely due to
an increased consumption of foods high in saturated fats and sugars, with a decrease in physical
activity. As a result of the United States prospering agricultural industry, most Americans center
their diets around animal products, often consuming more than the daily recommended dose.
Recently, links between high rates of meat consumption and preventable diseases, such as
obesity and cancer, have been established. However, our dietary decisions not only impact our
health but also the environment. The wide range of impacts associated with meat production all
contribute to the larger issue of climate change. Thus, in an effort to decrease our environmental
footprint as well as protect the health of our community, Green Paws Environmental Alliance is
proposing that Northern Illinois University institute Meatless Mondays on campus. This proposal
shall explore both the health and environmental benefits of this program, as well as its
applicability in the dining halls.
Meat Consumption and Health
According to the World Health Organization, dietary factors influence at least 30% of all cancers
in Western countries.2 This connection is in part due to the fact that meat does not contain fiber
or other protective nutrients; rather, meat contains animal protein, saturated fat, as well as some
carcinogenic compounds.3 The high fat content in meat increases your bodys hormone
production, which can increase your risk of breast or prostate cancer. Red meat in particular is
largely associated with colon cancer because it can facilitate the formation of carcinogenic, or
cancer causing, compounds in the body.4 When this connection between meat and cancer was
1 World Health Organization, Obesity and Overweight, WHO, last modified March 2013,
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/.

2 Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Meat Consumption and Cancer Risk, PCRM, accessed January 19, 2014,
http://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/facts/meat-consumption-and-cancer-risk.

3 See Above

4 Rosemary Stanton, A Plant Based Diet, Medical Journal of Australia 1, no. 2 (2012): 6, doi: 10.5694/mjao11.11508.

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identified, studies in England and Germany discovered that vegetarians were 40% less likely to
develop cancer than those who ate meat.5 Plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts,
and whole grains contain vitamins and other beneficial compounds that help protect against
many forms of cancers, in addition to other diseases.6
In a study led by Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, it was shown that red
meat consumption had the highest risk of all-cause mortality, cancer mortality and cardiovascular
disease mortality.7 They calculated that just one extra serving per day could raise your chance of
mortality between 13% and 20%, depending upon whether or not it was processed.8 Additionally,
substituting one serving per day with plant based foods could greatly reduce your risk of
mortality. In general, abundant consumption of vegetarian foods such as fruits, vegetables,
legumes, cereals, and nuts can greatly reduce ones risk of chronic diseases and mortality.
Meat Consumption and the Environment
Today, agricultural production accounts for about one fifth of greenhouse gases emitted annually,
with livestock utilizing almost a third of the worlds land.9 Since livestock is such a big part of
the agricultural industry, it requires large amounts of grain and water to sustain the cattle
populations. These intense conditions contribute to water pollution, soil erosion, and greenhouse
gas emissions. Dr. Jim Oltjen from the University of California at Davis, states that: Including
consumption by cattle, irrigation of pastures and crops, and carcass processing, it can take as
5 See Footnote 2.

6 Joan Sabate, The Contribution of Vegetarian Diets to Health and Disease: a paradigm shift, American Society for Clinical
Nutrition 78, no.3 (2003).

7 Harrison Wein, Risk in Red Meat? National Institutes of Health, March 2012,
http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/march2012/03262012meat.htm.

8 See Above.

9 Anthony McMichael, John Powles, Colin Butler, and Ricardo Uauy, Food, Livestock Production, Energy, Climate Change,
and Health, Lancet 370 (2007): 1253, doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61256-2

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much as 3,682 liters of water to produce 2.2 pounds of beef in the US.10 Thus, meat production
over-utilizes many fresh water resources in addition to producing pollution from farming
practices.
In regards to emissions, livestock produce about 80 million metric tons of methane annually,
about 22% of methane releases.11 Methane is a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than
carbon dioxide when released into the atmosphere, thus accelerating the process of climate
change.12 Temperature extremes, degraded air quality, interrupting food yields, and raising sea
levels are all projected impacts of climate change. As a result, it is in our best interest to try and
decrease our emissions as much as possible in an effort to prevent these events from occurring.
Meatless Mondays at NIU
The Meatless Monday movement began in 2003 in cooperation with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, in an attempt to improve personal health and improve sustainability. In
2009, Ghent, Belgium was the first city to adopt weekly vegetarian days, with San Francisco
following closely behind. Across the country, dozens of college and university dining halls have
embraced the Meatless Monday initiative. Students and faculty are now encouraged to try
vegetarian dishes, unique ethnic cuisines, and delicious meat free meals.13 Not only would
Meatless Mondays benefit student and environmental health, but it would also give the dining
halls the opportunity to be creative with their dishes and showcase local products.
Although this initiative may not be immediately adopted as is, cooperation between the student
body and dining services can result in new, inventive, and delicious meatless options that can
10 World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Impacts of Beef: Water Use, WWF, accessed January 19, 2014,
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/beef/environmental_impacts/water_use/.

11 World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Impacts of Beef: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, WWF, accessed January 19. 2014,
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/beef/environmental_impacts/greenhouse_emissions/.

12 Environmental Protection Agency, Overview of Greenhouse Gases: Methane Emissions, EPA, accessed January 19, 2014,
http://epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html.

13 The Monday Campaigns Inc., Tools and Resources for Campuses, MM, accessed January 19, 2014,
http://www.MeatlessMonday.com.

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adapt to all student desires. If instituted, Meatless Mondays can give the students and the
University a new, bright sustainable future.