How did “meatless monday” originate?

Miss Dementia: How did “meatless monday” originate?
I belong to a lot of cooking clubs online and off and I get a lot of emails and “group recipes” about “meatless monday”. Where and how did this originate? What was its purpose? Also, is it still commonly practiced (observed?) by some and if so, by whom?

I’ve just been very curious about this for a while now so thought I’d ask the oh-so-wise and yet amusingly snarky (at times) Y!A religious/spiritual community as I believe it is a religious thing. I just don’t know the who/what/why and how of the whole thing.

Thanks much in advance!
Wow! I just always figured it was a religious thing because of the “fish on fridays” being so closely connected with Catholicism. It would appear to be more of a cultural hydra though. Fascinating!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Nihil
Prolly a vegetarian wedge strategy. I say we eat twice as much meat on mondays. “Meaty Mondays”.

Answer by Seeker Person
onomatopoeia. You should eat bacon on wheat-less wednesdays.

Answer by GreggorMcPheeb
It was Paul McCartney who introduced it to help the environment and encourage vegetarianism…or it was Heather Mills

Answer by Carmen R (Now a Koala)
I´ve never heard of it, but here in Spain I´ve often been told to avoid buying fresh fish on Monday as it´s the day they try to get rid of what they couldn´t sell on Saturday so it´s not quite as fresh. So a lot people opt for meat.

Answer by novangelis
If was devised by marketing and public health experts as a way to start the week out right.

Answer by Egophile
It was back during WWI when the United States wanted to use as much as they could toward the war effort, and they started to encourage Americans to ration certain things. I think it was Herbert Hoover who launched the campaign. I’ve heard of it still being used now, but it’s usually for health. There aren’t any religious or cultural reasons that I’ve ever heard of.

Answer by ℒ’amour est le chaos
Must have had to do with a sexual harassment charge

LOL jk >.> *looks it up*

Apparently its not a religious thing. Its a environmental awareness thing of helping the planet.

“Meatless Monday – the modern version of it, at least – was born in 2003, with the goal of reducing meat consumption by 15 percent in the U.S. and beyond. The rationale? Livestock production accounts for one-fifth of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and is also a major factor in global forest and habitat loss, freshwater depletion, pollution and human health problems. The average American eats some eight ounces of meat every day – 45 percent more than the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recommended amount.”

So there you have it. Cows are farting too much.

Its the no meat on Friday thats the religious thing.

Answer by kandi
I think it has to do more with leaving one day for Vegetarian meals to encourage people to eat healthier, be nicer to the environment, try out Vegetarian eating and see if they like it, etc.

I’m pretty sure it isn’t religious

Answer by synopsis
This seems to have originally been a morale-building pseudo-rationing campaign – launched as part of the US War Effort in WWI.

There was never any real need for rationing in the US – but US presidents wanted Americans to feel that they were as much a part of the War as Europeans were (in most parts of Europe rationing was absolutely necessary).

Meatless Days and Wheatless Days are commonly referenced in Blues music of the period (Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Blues Jumped the Rabbit is a famous blues which mentions them).

After the War the Meatless idea seems to have been picked up by Ayurvedic and other ‘Eastern’ dietary fads.

Answer by 鬼
Well.

There is a simple explaination. Some time Ago meat wasnt really something you could eat everyday. So mostly some meaty foods where made on Sunday. If you ever ate a whole Duck by yourself you Dont want to eat meat for the next day.

Could come from there.

Answer by Just Ren
Sorry, wherever I go,
my meat is sure to follow.

It’s sort of a package deal.

Spaghetti with turkey meatballs tonight..

Answer by AstridMiriam
Eat chicken.

Answer by the eco warrior
i have no fricking idea