Vegetarian food-lovers set carnivores a Lent challenge
The Flemish food initiative Dagen zonder vlees highlights the links between eating meat and climate change
On food and drink in Flanders
The campaign runs from 1 March to 15 April, and it will kick off with a food festival this weekend at Antwerp’s Felix Pakhuis.
The goal of the initiative, founded by student (and carnivore) Alexia Leysen, is to raise awareness about the ties between eating meat and global warming.
“Meat has an enormous impact on water and CO2 consumption, and six years ago nobody was talking about it,” explains actor and campaign member Marieke Dilles. “It’s not that we want everyone to become vegetarian. It’s that we want to inform people that eating less meat can hugely reduce your ecological footprint.”
After registering on the website, participants can use the counter feature to track exactly how much they’re reducing their ecological impact with each vegetarian day. They can also sign up to one of the groups accepting the challenge this year, from the University of Leuven to the Vegan Teens of Belgium.
Last year, a whopping 90,000 people took part. “The city of Ghent embraced the scheme, and the leaders of the five biggest Flemish political parties joined us,” says Dilles. “This year we have famous people from every big television and radio station in Flanders.”
Real-life inspiration
Other innovations include a website in French, to expand the scheme’s appeal across the rest of the country, and the inaugural food festival, for real-life inspiration.
“A lot of people have questions like, ‘How can I cook vegetarian meals for my kids? What can I put on my bread?’ Through the festival we want to show them that it’s not so bad eating vegetarian. You can cook delicious things.”
The festival will include readings and workshops by luminaries like Graanmarkt 13 chef Seppe Nobels, alongside an after-party and vegetarian food trucks. This year the focus is on easy-to-make recipes, with organisers publishing a cookbook with contributions from celebrity participants.
For those seeking a greater challenge, the book will offer tips on more sustainable consumption, be it reducing food waste and plastic packaging, or eating more seasonal cuisine.
“The main thing is that everyone can participate – even for one day a week,” says Dilles. “We try to make it very simple for people to take up the challenge.”
Photo: Elisabeth Van Lierop
