Meat Free Mondays.

Because I am a dedicated vegetarian this is a campaign, very close to my heart. I am urging everyone to pledge themselves to this campaign. A single meatless day in your week, will not dramatically affect your life (besides the hugely beneficial health advantages of a meat free diet) but it will save the senseless, painful slaughter of millions of animals.

The facts - The increase in meat product over time would not have been possible without the development of commercial methods of farming, which have blatantly ignored the rights of animals who are deprived of exercise, fresh air and social interaction. In order to get more meat, more product, cheaper and faster, animals are treated in monstrous ways and often live a miserable existence only to die a terrifying, painful death. (see the peta website, to meet your meat and learn more about the cruelties of commercial farming) Compassion in world farming have revealed that by simply introducing a meat free day in South Africa - 11 200 cattle, 2 million chickens, 10 000 pigs and 22 300 sheep will not face slaughter each and every week!!

The facts - Eating less meat can help minimize your ecological footprint because stock breeding has a dramatic detrimental impact on the environment. Livestock make up a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions. The larger the demand for meat products, the larger the damage on the environment. Not to even mention the monumental amounts of water and maize which is wasted to commercial farming (while people in other countries are starving) and the devastation of over grazing, pesticides and antibiotics / hormones.

The facts - If none of these points sink into your un-empathetic mind, think of yourself and your health. Cutting out meat one day a week will help prevent four of the leading causes of death: heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Public health experts suggest that reducing our daily intake of meat by 60%, will help reduce excess weight and obesity issues in our country.

So please for whatever your reason, give up meat for just one day a week and make a dramatic difference to the animals, the environment and your health. Just think about it, seriously, it's time we all stopped been selfish, stopped putting our heads in the sand and took a stand for what is important. For motivation, think about the face of the animal you eat every meal, think about the life it should have been given, think about what life it actually had and think about the fact that, that creature was slaughtered and mistreated for you to eat that meal. Stop saying pork and beef and poultry, start saying pig and cow and chickens, stop desensitizing yourself to the fact that when you prepare your meal at night, your hands are tainted with death. You are killing living, breathing, intelligent creatures, who have feelings and personality and the ability to show love. Live life with love and compassion for all creatures and your heart will be lighter. G