Go veggie and change the world

A rethink of our diets could make a life-saving difference to the planet

You are what you eat: it’s the mantra we hear from dietitians all the time. But after spending half an hour with Tobias Leenaert, president of the Ethical Vegetarian Alternative (EVA) in Ghent, its true significance really hits home. And it’s a lot to digest.

Some 60 billion animals are killed every year for human consumption, says Leenaert, who has made it his life’s purpose to demonstrate that vegetarianism is imperative to a healthy body and a healthy planet. This demand for meat is expected to double by 2050, when our numbers are projected to reach 9 billion people, according to the staunch vegan who believes that the West needs a significant dietary shift. “At the rate we are consuming meat,” he says, “we are heading towards a planetary disaster.”

The facts are compelling. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation cites meat production as a major cause of the climate crisis, accounting for 18 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Leenaert (pictured) adds a further shocking statistic: “The effect of all of Belgium having one meatless day a week for a year would be equal to a decrease of a million cars on our roads. The methane emissions of a cow belching are worse than a car’s CO2 emissions.”

Meat production is the main cause of deforestation in South America, and is solely responsible for deforesting an area the size of Belgium every year worldwide. The health and food shortage issue is equally cogent. The world feeds much of its grain to cattle while millions starve, and a criminally unjustifiable amount of arable land and water is being used to produce meat.

High meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and several forms of cancer. A total of 3.2 million Europeans are diagnosed with cancer every year, and cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in Europe, accounting for 49 percent of all deaths and costing the EU €169 billion annually. A World Health Organisation study asserts that a decrease of a mere 1 percent in saturated fat intake among Europeans could avoid almost 13,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease per year.

The moral dilemma

But it was the ethical and moral issues that gnawed at Leenaert’s conscience and made him convert to veganism. “I loved eating meat,” he says. “It took me five to seven years to become a vegetarian. I just couldn’t justify why I was treating a cow any differently than I would a dog.”

Glasses perched on his nose, his forehead crinkles as he explains: “Many children will resist eating meat when they find out it comes from a living animal, but the parent just shrugs it off, saying there’s nothing wrong with it.” With a frustrated sigh, he says: “At that moment, you are squashing your child’s natural empathy. If meat-eating necessitates that we numb ourselves, how can we care about the world we live in?”

 After years of soul-searching, and a thesis on the human-animal relationship that set out a vision for a better, predominantly vegetarian, world, Leenaert turned his dream into a reality and founded EVA in 2000 with idealistic fellow students. The moral ferocity and endless commitment have paid off. Today, EVA is a flourishing organisation with an overworked staff of six people and 4,000 members.

No meat on Thursdays

The organisation hit a revolutionary milestone in May last year when Ghent became the first town in the world to go officially veggie once a week, every Thursday (Donderdag). “Donderdag – Veggie Dag has inspired the world,” says Leenaert. “Every week I am either talking to international journalists or getting enquiries from governments as to how we did it.”

Traditionally an environment-friendly student town, it was no surprise that local environmental councillor Tom Balthazar backed Leenaert’s idea of a veggie day. The executive council warmed to the suggestion even more after Flanders’ culinary talent Philippe Van den Bulck served up a veggie gastronomic feast. “The council was in favour and we officially made the announcement,” Leenaert says.

Why Donderdag – Veggie Dag? Leenaert explains: “Friday is fish day, so for the ease of memory we chose the day before that. Some countries have meat-free Monday campaigns, but here most of the restaurants are closed on Mondays.” The radical exercise received minimal backlash. “The day after the announcement was made, headlines in the paper stated that Ghent was forcing pupils to go vegetarian,” he says. The city clarified that people had the option to choose meat as an alternative to the vegetarian menu.

Practically every restaurant in Ghent now offers a veggie option on Thursdays. Leenaert adds: “Five thousand city staff are encouraged to eat vegetarian food on Thursday, and 95 percent of children at the 35 city schools opt for the veggie menu.”

EVA’s campaign provoked protests from the Farmers Union of Belgium, says Leenaert. “The union sees the campaign as a threat. It has distributed meat samples during city council meetings in Hasselt and Leuven while the campaign was being discussed there.”

However, there is no stopping what EVA has started. Hasselt has just introduced a similar veggie day, and across the border in Germany, the town of Bremen has followed suit. São Paulo in Brazil was the first city outside Europe to adopt the movement. The International School of Brussels is also going veggie one day a week from August, owing to the efforts of science teacher Michelle Brown.

Leenaert’s work is not yet complete, as he hopes to raise money to fund campaigning and more staff. EVA receives subsidies from the Flemish government and sponsorships from companies such as soy food producer Alpro, as well as membership contributions. “While the idea of vegetarianism is becoming more mainstream as a healthier way of life, we still need to do a lot to get rid of its traditional downmarket image.”

His goal is to invest in a solely veggie cooking academy. He says: “Many chefs don’t know the first thing about vegetarian cuisine, and it’s still too often associated with sober living, something you don’t do for pleasure. Vegetarians should be able to go to a cosy restaurant and enjoy a good long dinner like everyone else.”

Ghent has the largest number of vegetarian restaurants per capita in the world (13 restaurants for 240,000 people), but most don’t serve dinner, have limited options and the meals are typically microbiotically inspired. Emphasising the need to involve celebrities to raise the profile of veggie organisations, Leenaert says: “When Paul McCartney visited the European Parliament to talk about a meatless Monday, people really paid attention.”

The modest visionary is pleased with the global attention, but he is not the least bit surprised. “I really believe the world will be vegetarian one day. We are sensitive and rational beings and we are slowly reaching a critical mass of evolution, to a state where we will not harm other living beings for food.”

His final missive: “If you want to change the world, you have to start with what you eat.”