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Subscribe to RSSLos Angeles is hoping to persuade people to become vegetarian – at least one day per week. Under a resolution unanimously approved by the city council this week, all future Mondays in the City of Angels have been declared "Meatless Mondays."
It's part of an international campaign to cut down on meat consumption for health and environmental reasons.
Both the spiritual home of the hamburger and a haven for the health-obsessed, Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to support the Meatless Monday campaign. The nonprofit initiative, started in 2003, is associated with Johns Hopkins University's public health school.
Councilwoman Jan Perry, who introduced the motion with Councilman Ed Reyes, noted the environmental impacts of meat production, and she emphasized that a high-meat diet has been linked to health problems such as colon, prostate, kidney and breast cancers, as well as heart disease.
"Eating less meat can prevent and even reverse some of our nation's most common illnesses," Perry said.
"We've become disconnected in some ways from the simple truth that our health is directly affected by the foods we eat,'' she added.
Read more from NBCLosAngeles.com
Her motion posted 12-0 in a council session Friday.
Reyes said it is easy for individuals to feel helpless in the face of issues as big as global warming or the obesity epidemic, "but the small changes we make every day can have a tremendous impact. That's why this 'Meatless Monday' resolution is important. Together we can better our health, the animals and the environment, one plate at a time.''
The council resolution referred to the link between livestock and environmental problem, and noted that reduced consumption of animal-based foods can "lower our carbon footprint."
The decision was made "in support of comprehensive sustainability efforts as well as to further encourage residents to eat a more varied plant-based diet to protect their health, protect animals and protect the environment."
The resolution also pointed to statistics showing more than half of Los Angeles County residents are obese or overweight, and stated reduced meat consumption can lower health risks.
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Villar has ran Los Angeles into the ground: functionally, LA is bankrupt due to the unions.
THIS is why politicians need to be part-time. Morons - just like Bloomberg in NY. Get rid of them all and let's start over.
I love my local bar on Fridays! Meat Raffle Day!
I'm definitely going to eat MORE meat on Mondays.
Stephanie Wanlass Jensen
From an historical perspective, humans are carnivores. The small amount of carbohydrate we consumed was gathered, in season, and consisted of greens, roots, nuts, and fruit. We gained weight during the summer and fall, because of the availability of insulin-stimulating carbs, and we became lean over the winter and spring, using up our fat stores on a diet of meat and fat. Now we have an abundance of carb-foods available year-round thanks to technology and human ingenuity. Today's wheat, in particular, is a GM Frankenwheat that bears no resemblance to wheat from even 50 years ago. It is not fit for human consumption. Yet our policy makers subsidize its production, and promote its consumption (food pyramid or my plate anyone?). The truth may be in personalized nutrition... See the work of research scientists Drs. Phinney and Volek.
BTW, if we used all those fields now producing an unnatural (it CANNOT survive without human intervention) wheat as pastures for grazing, we would be able to feed the world, and the people would be healthier and leaner. Beware the study cited by Joy Bauer on Today... Remember processed meats and red meats are served with a huge helping of Frankenwheat... Buns, rolls, crusts. The study mentions this, but then assumes the ill effects noted were due to the red meat. The study should have raised more questions than offered conclusions. Perhaps it was funded by Kellogg's or ConAgra.
WTF?? No. Humans are omnivores.
Hunter gatherers ate mostly vegetation supplemented with meat. Except for the Inuit and similar groups in the far North, but they are fairly modern adaptations.
We evolved from vegetarians...and remain mostly vegetarian. We CAN eat meat. We don't have to. Carnivores (like cats) have to eat meat. Note that carnivores have claws and sharp scissoring teeth. If you give a human an animal and no tools, they will never be able to eat it. We can't rip the skin without tools. We adapted the ability to eat meat....it isn't exactly natural. Likewise dogs are omnivores who evolved from carnivores. They adapted to eat foods other than meat...but lots of it is difficult for them to digest.
I agree with you on the wheat thing though. Most of the "bread" in the supermarket is a chemistry experiment...not food. I prefer my grains boiled and whole. And I hope we can get back to heirloom vegetables and food that was bred for taste and nutrients....instead of for cheap sale and looks. Our food is as empty and superficial as our culture.
We became omnivores. Primate + meat = human.I'd rather have the meat no vegies than the other way around.1st opinion realism,second opinion based on not wanting to harm tasty animals,sounds like
Actually I became vegan for my health first, the animals second and the environment third. If you enjoy causing suffering to other beings I feel sorry for you.
Rather than tackle real issues - they use our tax dollars for this crap. Shame on them! There are more important issues to spend their time on.
Wait.... you people eat meat EVERY night?? For real??
I'm not a greenie or tree hugger or a vegan or even Catholic.
I just thought most people had pancakes-n-eggs night, grilled cheese and tomato soup night, tuna mac-n-cheese night, and spaghetti night... Not even a a large cheese pizza on a pay day?
Several meatless nights, but most still require the raising of animals anyway.
So just because some group put a label on something most people do every week anyway, now it's bad, evil and a 'nanny state?'
Pathetic.
I'm a vegetarian and @#%&!! proud of it and so
all you wild-west wackos, back off!!
It's time we end the status quo of the primitive 19th Century,
encourage everybody worldwide to reject animal meat
and the redneck way of life, in favor of vegetarian/vegan cuisines
in the modern 21st Century.
As for all you steak-eatin' neanderthals out there..
If you're expecting me and my vegetarian/vegan like-minds
to convert and conform to your old-school meat-n-potato ways,
guess what....Ain't gonna happen!
We shall NEVER walk lock-step to the status quo of animal meat!
~May Your Next Meal Be Fecal Fries, Camel Dung Burgers, And Yak Chips~
And besides, I got sick on animal meat in 1984...
I'm not going back to eating meat again...
I don't care what you dumb redneck cowboys think,
'cause there's nothing you can do or say to
make me convert back to eating ribs and steak!
I know that you're gonna mock me saying I'm not getting
any protein...
Well, guess what, Moonshine Breath...
Beans and other plant-based protein foods have a lot of protein,
vitamins, minerals, and one important element that animal
meat doesn't have and that's FIBER!!
If ya' want to get a heart attack or succumb to colon cancer from
your consumption of an unclean food such as beef and the like,
that's your path!!
I'm stickin' to my vegetarian food, 'cause they taste better than meat anyway,
and it's far more healthier, plus I've gone meatless for spiritual reasons.
~May Your BBQ Spareribs Get Mad Cow Disease~
Well, how do you keep the beans from falling in between the grates on the grill? Got to go, polish up the rifle, Deer season opens in a few days. Yummmm Venison.
A diet high in white carbs and processed meats is what causes the health problems cited in the article.
Wonder if Jimmy Dean read this?
What I find most interesting is that both liberals and conservatives tend to view both laws and resolutions passed as suggestions in much the same way. "We need a law to keep other people from doing something" and "we need a resolution to encourage other people to do something" are common to both groups. It's often only the specific issue that varies, not the desire to control the behavior of others. Here's an idea. Aside from the very basic laws we need for a society, why not let people do whatever they want without interference, including "encouraging" them to do something that may or may not be beneficial to them? Will some people make profoundly bad choices? Of course, they will. Will some of those choices result in less than desirable outcomes for them? Almost certainly, in some cases. That's the nature of allowing people to make their own choices...it means they may make choices of which I do not approve and that they may have to endure consequences that could have been avoided. That's part of the price of freedom. The people who enjoy the greatest degree of individual freedom are those who accept complete responsibility for their actions and results.
going meatless one day a week is not enough. if we are to sustain the quality of life, push it up to everyday. do this to end the suffering of animals, for the enivronment, for our children.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
He became a vegetarian at the age of sixteen. Franklin said "greater progress, from that greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension." In his autobiographical writings, he called flesh-eating "unprovoked murder."
Do people actually believe that these "officials" have human health and the environment in mind?
Do people actually think that by declaring "meatless mondays" LA residents are going to start eating kale, organic lentils, hummus, fruits and vegetables? Really?
Do these "officials" also try to educate people about food, meat, fruits and vegetables? Do they try to educate people about the difference between grass-fed and factory farming?
Meatless mondays = eat anything that does not contain meat and meat products.
Meatless mondays = oreos, doritos, cheetos, candybars, sodas, potato chips, all swallowed up along with a generous serving of white flour pasta with high fructose corn syrup fake tomato sauce. All 100% vegan and all 100% chemical industrial waste.
Meatless mondays = industrial soybean oil and soy derivatives in processed food obtained by chemical reactions.
But of course everybody knows that meatless processed "food" is healthier than organic grass-fed meat from local sources, organic pastured poultry and wild fish.
If these "officials" really wanted to bring awareness about food and health, they would have declared "processed food free mondays." But why would they do that? That would go against Big GMO Agra. The same Big GMO Agra who pumped out lots of $$$ to defeat proposition 37 to label GMOs.
Mmmmm, yummy!
Meat isn't really causing the problems, it is the additives in the meat that are so dangerous. The hormones, the anti-biotics, and the treatment of the slaughtered flesh are culprits. Yes by eating less meat you're getting less of those, but rather than incorrectly stating meat is bad, why not go after those poisoining the food? Oh wait, those folks have too much influence!
No...it's the meat. The additives are just the poison icing on the poison cake!
Sexless first week of the month would help the country more.Fewer bstrds to support.
Sexless first week of the month would help the country more. Fewer bstrds(demos) to support.
Now that these morons voted in a new tax increase for the state and the city of LALA land wants another tax increase I say they should eat veggies every frickin day of the week. Why? Because that is all they will be able to afford in a few months. They can have a few leafs of lettuce for breakfast, an apple for lunch and maybe - maybe if they are lucky, have a bananna for dinner. That's enough for them and pretty much all they deserve. How do you like those beans? Oh - and there is that high speed rail that goes to nowhere - maybe we can tax those people in LALA land some more for that while they are at it.
Meatless Mondays is a great idea! But these ladies are @!$%#ing stupid. Fish is meat, they are animals and suffer as much as cows, pigs, and chickens.
Eggs and milk are just as bad for animals and human health, so dump that crap too!
AMI makes money murdering animals, of course they will be pissed. WTF is the Today Show reading their crap. The proper amount of meat is NONE. As a vegan of 20 years I can tell you that, I am living proof!
I used to enjoy reading the blog attached to the article because sometimes I would learn something new. I think the psycos have take over. Not that you care but this will be my last post and viewing of the blogs this year. My hope is that the "normal" bloggers will come back. I am tired of the posts that seem to come from a 8 year old.
Happy Holidays (Thanksgiving +) to all my friends and even the haters. I hope signs of "normallity'' will be seen next year.
I am a Fruitarian and it has made a world of difference in my attitude my weight, and just feeling more upbeat and possitive. I do have a disease called RSD and it does help control the pain. You can literally snack all day long and not gain weight if you want to.