McCARTNEY FAMILY’S MEAT FREE MONDAY – “A GROWING MOVEMENT”
Participation in Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney’s campaign has shot up since the launch of their documentary short ‘One Day a Week’
Support for Meat Free Monday has noticeably increased since the launch of ‘One Day a Week’ in November 2017, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference.
In addition to many individuals, new supporters include universities (UEA, Ulster), businesses (Universal Music UK, Abbey Road Studios) and schools (Trafford Council, Edinburgh City Council). ‘edie’ also went meat free for its annual Sustainability Leaders Forum in January, and a number of cafes and restaurants in Primrose Hill are supporting the campaign this month. The film was promoted by a range of high profile personalities including Ellen DeGeneres, Mike Bloomberg, Richard Branson, Vivienne Westwood, Chris Packham, Ricky Gervais, Gary Barlow, Leona Lewis and The Killers.
Narrated by Paul McCartney, and with appearances by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney, Woody Harrelson and Emma Stone, ‘One Day a Week’ describes how the beauty of the planet only exists through a delicate balance of climatic conditions – a balance we are dangerously disrupting through our overconsumption of animal products.
In an interview about the film with National Geographic, Paul McCartney said: “It’s actually quite fun when you look at what you do, what you eat, how you live and think, ‘Is this what I’m going to do the rest of my life, or would it be interesting to try to make a change?’ I think a lot of people do that these days.”
Meat Free Monday’s aim is to raise awareness and inspire people to make a change in their diets from an easily achievable starting point. And, with increasing plant-based options available in shops and restaurants, it’s easier than ever to take part. According to recent findings by Kantar Worldpanel, 29% of all dinners eaten across the UK in the 12 weeks leading to January 31 2018 were vegetarian or vegan.
“The truth is there are a lot of options these days that you can use – it’s really not difficult,” said Paul. “So what we’re doing with Meat Free Monday is urging people to just try it one day, because it will make some kind of a difference, if enough people do it or if the idea spreads. It is a growing movement.”
For more information about Meat Free Monday, to watch One Day a Week, and to share three brand new bite-sized edits of the film, please visit meatfreemondays.com.
PHOTO: Mary, Paul and Stella McCartney © 2017 MPL Communications Ltd
About the campaign
Launched by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in 2009, Meat Free Monday is a not-for-profit
campaign which aims to raise awareness of the damaging environmental impact of eating meat,
and to encourage people to help slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources and
improve their health by having at least one meat free day each week.
About the film
One Day a Week was largely funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and produced by Hope Production in collaboration with Meat Free Monday. The film was directed by Baptiste Rouget-Luchaire, whose work includes ‘7 Billion Others’ (a worldwide project by Yann Arthus-Bertrand) and ‘A Thirsty World’, a film about global water issues.
Facts
• Almost a third of all land on Earth is used for livestock production.1
• A third of all cereal crops, and more than 95 per cent of soy, is turned into feed for farmed
animals.2
• An area of rainforest the size of a hundred football pitches is cut down every hour to create room
for grazing cattle.3
• It can take 2,350 litres of fresh water – that’s about 30 bathtubs! – to produce just one beef
burger.4,5
• According to scientists at the United Nations, livestock production is responsible for 14.5 per
cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions.6 Other scientists say the percentage is even
higher!7
• If present trends continue, over the next 100 years or so there will be a global mass extinction of
species.8
For Meat Free Monday, contact:
Suzanne Barnard + 44 7854 115 799; press@meatfreemondays.com
For Paul McCartney, contact:
United States – Steve Martin 212-343-0740; steve@nastylittleman.com
UK – Stuart Bell + 44 7931 501 495; stuart.bell@dawbell.com
1 Steinfeld H et al, Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, Rome, 2006, p. xxi.
2 Steinfeld H et al, p.12 and p.43.
3 (a) Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, PRODES, 2016, online at http://www.obt.inpe.br/prodes/index.php(accessed 28
September 2017); (b) Bustamente MMC, et al., Estimating greenhouse gas emissions from cattle raising in Brazil, Climatic Change, 115,
2012, 0pp. 559–577; (c) Laws of the Game 2017/18, The International Football Association Board, 2017, p.34.
4 Ercin AE, Aldaya MM and Hoekstra AY, The water footprint of soy milk and soy burger and equivalent animal products, Ecological
Indicators, 18, 2012, p.400.
5 Waterwise, online at http://www.waterwise.org.uk/news.php/11/showers-vs.-baths-facts-figures-and-misconceptions (accessed 28
September 2017).
6 Gerber PJ et al, Tackling climate change through livestock – A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2013.
7 Goodland R and Anhang J, Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?,
Worldwatch Institute, 2009.
8 Rothman, DH, Thresholds of catastrophe in the Earth system, Science Advances, Vol. 3, No. 9, e1700906, 2017.
