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{{Short description|Day in which one is encouraged not to consume meat}} |
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'''Meat-free days''' or '''veggiedays''' are declared to discourage or prohibit the consumption of meat on certain days of the week. [[Meatless Monday|Mondays]] and [[Friday Fast|Fridays]] are the most popular days. There are also movements encouraging people giving up meat on a weekly, monthly, or permanent basis.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} |
'''Meat-free days''' or '''veggiedays''' are declared to discourage or prohibit the consumption of meat on certain days of the week. [[Meatless Monday|Mondays]] and [[Friday Fast|Fridays]] are the most popular days. There are also movements encouraging people giving up meat on a weekly, monthly, or permanent basis.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} |
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== History == |
== History == |
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{{Further|Friday Fast}} |
{{Further|Friday Fast}} |
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Abstention from meat, other than fish, was historically done for religious reasons (e.g. the [[Friday Fast]]). In the [[Methodist Church]], on Fridays, especially those of [[Lent]], "abstinence from meat one day a week is a universal act of penitence".<ref name="McKnight2010">{{cite book |last1=McKnight |first1=Scot |title=Fasting: The Ancient Practices |date=2010 |publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=9781418576134 |pages=88 |language=en|quote=John Wesley, in his ''Journal'', wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=2872 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310224612/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=2872 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 March 2010 |title=What does The United Methodist Church say about fasting? |publisher=The United Methodist Church |access-date=27 April 2014 }}</ref> [[Anglican]]s (Episcopalians) and [[Roman Catholic]]s also traditionally observe Friday as a meat-free day.<ref name="Buchanan2009">{{cite book|last=Buchanan|first=Colin|title=The A to Z of Anglicanism|date=4 August 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810870086|page=182|quote=In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, there is a list of "Days of Fasting, or Abstinence," consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday).}}</ref><ref name="Green2006">{{cite book|last=Green|first=Jennifer|title=Dealing with Death: A Handbook of Practices, Procedures and Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jH2DrcY2DXMC&pg=PA224|access-date=27 April 2014|date=25 May 2006|publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers|isbn=9781846425127|page=224|quote=Friday is a day of abstinence and self-denial for Catholics in health, and, by tradition, this became a meat-free day.}}</ref> Historically, Anglican and Catholic countries enforced prohibitions on eating meat, other than fish, on certain days of Lent. In England, for example, "butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly 'fish days', Friday and Saturday."<ref name="BarrowsRoom1991">{{cite book|last1=Barrows|first1=Susanna|last2=Room|first2=Robin|title=Drinking: Behavior and Belief in Modern History|url=https://archive.org/details/drinkingbehavior00barr|url-access=registration|access-date=27 April 2014|year=1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520070851|page=[https://archive.org/details/drinkingbehavior00barr/page/340 340]|quote=The main legally enforced prohibition in both Catholic and Anglican countries was that against meat. During Lent, the most prominent annual season of fasting in Catholic and Anglican churches, authorities enjoined abstinence from meat and sometimes "white meats" (cheese, milk, and eggs); in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly "fish days," Friday and Saturday.}}</ref> In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Wednesdays and Fridays are meat-free days.<ref name="Vitz1991">{{cite book|last=Vitz|first=Evelyn Birge|title=A Continual Feast|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrdUYzuAO14C&pg=PA80|access-date=27 April 2014|year=1991|publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=9780898703849|page=80|quote=In the Orthodox groups, on ordinary Wednesdays and Fridays no meat, olive oil, wine, or fish can be consumed.}}</ref> In the [[Lutheran Church]], Fridays and Saturdays are historically considered meat-free days.<ref name="Lund2002">{{cite book|last=Lund|first=Eric|title=Documents from the History of Lutheranism, 1517–1750|quote=Of the Eating of Meat: One should abstain from the eating of meat on Fridays and Saturdays, also in fasts, and this should be observed as an external ordinance at the command of his Imperial Majesty.|date=January 2002|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=9781451407747|page=166}}</ref> |
Abstention from meat, other than fish, was historically done for religious reasons (e.g. the [[Friday Fast]]). In the [[Methodist Church]], on Fridays, especially those of [[Lent]], "abstinence from meat one day a week is a universal act of penitence".<ref name="McKnight2010">{{cite book |last1=McKnight |first1=Scot |title=Fasting: The Ancient Practices |date=2010 |publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=9781418576134 |pages=88 |language=en|quote=John Wesley, in his ''Journal'', wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=2872 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310224612/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=2872 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 March 2010 |title=What does The United Methodist Church say about fasting? |publisher=The United Methodist Church |access-date=27 April 2014 }}</ref> [[Anglican]]s (Episcopalians) and [[Roman Catholic]]s also traditionally observe Friday as a meat-free day.<ref name="Buchanan2009">{{cite book|last=Buchanan|first=Colin|title=The A to Z of Anglicanism|date=4 August 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810870086|page=182|quote=In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, there is a list of "Days of Fasting, or Abstinence," consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday).}}</ref><ref name="Green2006">{{cite book|last=Green|first=Jennifer|title=Dealing with Death: A Handbook of Practices, Procedures and Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jH2DrcY2DXMC&pg=PA224|access-date=27 April 2014|date=25 May 2006|publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers|isbn=9781846425127|page=224|quote=Friday is a day of abstinence and self-denial for Catholics in health, and, by tradition, this became a meat-free day.}}</ref> Historically, Anglican and Catholic countries enforced prohibitions on eating meat, other than fish, on certain days of Lent. In England, for example, "butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly 'fish days', Friday and Saturday."<ref name="BarrowsRoom1991">{{cite book|last1=Barrows|first1=Susanna|last2=Room|first2=Robin|title=Drinking: Behavior and Belief in Modern History|url=https://archive.org/details/drinkingbehavior00barr|url-access=registration|access-date=27 April 2014|year=1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520070851|page=[https://archive.org/details/drinkingbehavior00barr/page/340 340]|quote=The main legally enforced prohibition in both Catholic and Anglican countries was that against meat. During Lent, the most prominent annual season of fasting in Catholic and Anglican churches, authorities enjoined abstinence from meat and sometimes "white meats" (cheese, milk, and eggs); in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly "fish days," Friday and Saturday.}}</ref> In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Wednesdays and Fridays are meat-free days.<ref name="Vitz1991">{{cite book|last=Vitz|first=Evelyn Birge|title=A Continual Feast|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrdUYzuAO14C&pg=PA80|access-date=27 April 2014|year=1991|publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=9780898703849|page=80|quote=In the Orthodox groups, on ordinary Wednesdays and Fridays no meat, olive oil, wine, or fish can be consumed.}}</ref> In the [[Lutheran Church]], Fridays and Saturdays are historically considered meat-free days.<ref name="Lund2002">{{cite book|last=Lund|first=Eric|title=Documents from the History of Lutheranism, 1517–1750|quote=Of the Eating of Meat: One should abstain from the eating of meat on Fridays and Saturdays, also in fasts, and this should be observed as an external ordinance at the command of his Imperial Majesty.|date=January 2002|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=9781451407747|page=166}}</ref> In addition to the Fridays of the year, in Western Christianity, [[Ash Wednesday]]—the first day of the repentance themed season of [[Lent]]—is a traditional dayof fasting and abstinence from meat.<ref name="ELCA1978">{{cite web|url=http://www.ststephenlutheranchurch.org/pdf/Disciplines%20of%20Lent-%20Handbook.pdf|title=A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent|last=Weitzel|first=Thomas L.|year=1978|publisher=[[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]]|language=en|access-date=17 March 2018|archive-date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164940/http://www.ststephenlutheranchurch.org/pdf/Disciplines%20of%20Lent-%20Handbook.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Buchanan2015">{{cite book|last=Buchanan|first=Colin|title=Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism|year= 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|language=en|isbn=9781442250161|page=256}}</ref> |
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Among [[East Asian Buddhism|East Asian Buddhists]], vegetarian [[Buddhist cuisine]] was eaten on days tied to the phases of the moon known as [[Uposatha]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} |
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Meat-free days have also been observed due to wartime rationing (e.g. Meatless Tuesdays in Canada<ref>[http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/VeteransGreen/PrinterFriendly.aspx?tabid=1381 "Making Do with Less": Rationing in Canada] {{webarchive|url=https://archive. |
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| ⚫ | Meat-free days have also been observed due to wartime rationing (e.g. Meatless Tuesdays in Canada<ref>[http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/VeteransGreen/PrinterFriendly.aspx?tabid=1381 "Making Do with Less": Rationing in Canada] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121216045606/http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/VeteransGreen/PrinterFriendly.aspx?tabid=1381 |date=16 December 2012 }}</ref> and the United States—which also observed Wheatless Wednesdays—during [[World War I]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-meatless-mondays/ |title=History of Meatless Mondays |work=Pbs.org |date=16 August 2013 |access-date=2 November 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/the-way-we-ate-the-year-harry-truman-passed-on-pumpkin-pie/ The Way We Ate: The Year Harry Truman Passed on Pumpkin Pie]</ref> or in states with [[shortage economy|failing economies]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} |
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In the [[People's Republic of Poland]], meat-free days were encouraged by the government due to [[Market (economics)|market]] forces. They were aimed at limiting meat consumption, primarily in favour of [[flour]]-based foods. The meat-free day was traditionally Friday, Monday or Wednesday.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} |
In the [[People's Republic of Poland]], meat-free days were encouraged by the government due to [[Market (economics)|market]] forces. They were aimed at limiting meat consumption, primarily in favour of [[flour]]-based foods. The meat-free day was traditionally Friday, Monday or Wednesday.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} |
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=== Africa === |
=== Africa === |
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==== South Africa ==== |
==== South Africa ==== |
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* [[Cape Town]]<ref name="za-ct2010">{{cite web|title=City to launch |
* [[Cape Town]]<ref name="za-ct2010">{{cite web|title=City to launch 'one meat-free day a week' campaign|url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/MediaReleases/Pages/Citytolaunchonemeatfreedayaweekcampaign.aspx|date=27 July 2010|access-date=3 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827083135/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/MediaReleases/Pages/Citytolaunchonemeatfreedayaweekcampaign.aspx|archive-date=27 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pollack|first=Martin|title=City launches Meat-free Day|url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/Pages/CitylaunchesMeat-freeDay.aspx|date=30 July 2010|publisher=City of Cape Town|access-date=3 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802003555/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/Pages/CitylaunchesMeat-freeDay.aspx|archive-date=2 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=South Africa scores for farm animal welfare, the environment and human health|url=http://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/compassion_news/south_africa_scores_for_farm_animal_welfare_the_environment_and_human_health.aspx|date=12 April 2010 |
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|publisher=Compassion in World Farming|access-date=3 August 2010}}</ref> |
|publisher=Compassion in World Farming|access-date=3 August 2010}}</ref> |
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=== Asia === |
=== Asia === |
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==== Hong Kong ==== |
==== Hong Kong ==== |
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* Daily "Meat Free Hong Kong Meetup"<ref>{{cite web|title=Meat Free Hong Kong|url=http://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1579240/healthy-eating-vegetarian-and-raw-food-options|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref> |
* Daily "Meat Free Hong Kong Meetup"<ref>{{cite web|title=Meat Free Hong Kong|date=27 August 2014 |url=http://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1579240/healthy-eating-vegetarian-and-raw-food-options|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref> |
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==== India ==== |
==== India ==== |
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==== Pakistan ==== |
==== Pakistan ==== |
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* Reportedly, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0812217438 Meatless Tuesdays and Wednesdays were observed in Pakistan], from [[Benazir Bhutto|Benazir Bhutto's]] era in the 1990s through part of the 21st century.<ref>This law was passed during |
* Reportedly, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0812217438 Meatless Tuesdays and Wednesdays were observed in Pakistan], from [[Benazir Bhutto|Benazir Bhutto's]] era in the 1990s through part of the 21st century.<ref>This law was passed during Ayub's dictatorship, not during Benazir Bhutto's time.[http://indiansinpakistan.blogspot.com/2011/11/going-vegan-in-pakistan.html Going vegan in Pakistan... Saturday, 12 November 2011]</ref><ref>Alter, S. Amritsar to Lahore: A Journey Across the India-Pakistan Border. pp. 107-109</ref> |
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==== Singapore ==== |
==== Singapore ==== |
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==== Taiwan ==== |
==== Taiwan ==== |
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* Meat-free Mondays in [[Taipei]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Taipei Times about Meat free Monday|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2009/09/19/2003453873|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> |
* Meat-free Mondays in [[Taipei]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Taipei Times about Meat free Monday|date=19 September 2009 |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2009/09/19/2003453873|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> |
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=== Europe === |
=== Europe === |
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|date=22 May 2009|access-date=3 August 2010}}</ref><ref> |
|date=22 May 2009|access-date=3 August 2010}}</ref><ref> |
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{{Cite news|title=Ghent declares every Thursday 'Veggie day'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/5322315/Ghent-declares-every-Thursday-Veggie-day.html|newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> |
{{Cite news|title=Ghent declares every Thursday 'Veggie day'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/5322315/Ghent-declares-every-Thursday-Veggie-day.html|newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> |
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* [[Hasselt]]<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=Ghent's Veggiedag goes from strength to strength|url=http://www.meatfreemondays.com/ghents-veggiedag-goes-from-strength-to-strength/|website=Meat Free Mondays|access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref> |
* [[Hasselt]]<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=Ghent's Veggiedag goes from strength to strength|url=http://www.meatfreemondays.com/ghents-veggiedag-goes-from-strength-to-strength/|website=Meat Free Mondays|date=2 October 2011 |access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref> |
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* [[Mechelen]]<ref name="auto"/> |
* [[Mechelen]]<ref name="auto"/> |
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==== Germany ==== |
==== Germany ==== |
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* [[Bremen]]<ref name="Germany_Veggie_Day_2013">{{cite web|title=Weekly 'vegetarian day' for public canteens promised in Germany's Green Party manifesto|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10225628/Weekly-vegetarian-day-for-public-canteens-promised-in-Germanys-Green-Party-manifesto.html|website=Telegraph (London)|access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref> |
* [[Bremen]]<ref name="Germany_Veggie_Day_2013">{{cite web|title=Weekly 'vegetarian day' for public canteens promised in Germany's Green Party manifesto|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10225628/Weekly-vegetarian-day-for-public-canteens-promised-in-Germanys-Green-Party-manifesto.html|website=Telegraph (London)|date=6 August 2013 |access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref> |
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* During the [[German federal election, 2013|federal elections in 2013]], the German green party [[Alliance 90/The Greens|Bündnis '90/Die Grünen]] campaigned with a so-called "veggie day" in their manifesto, which resulted in a public outburst over "paternalism".<ref name="Germany_Veggie_Day_2013"/> |
* During the [[German federal election, 2013|federal elections in 2013]], the German green party [[Alliance 90/The Greens|Bündnis '90/Die Grünen]] campaigned with a so-called "veggie day" in their manifesto, which resulted in a public outburst over "paternalism".<ref name="Germany_Veggie_Day_2013"/> |
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==== Norway ==== |
==== Norway ==== |
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* the [[Norwegian Armed Forces]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/norwegian-army-placed-on-strict-vegetarian-diet-8951722.html | title=Norwegian army placed on strict vegetarian diet | access-date=18 January 2016 | last=Saul | first=Heather | date=30 November 2013 | work=[[The Independent]] }}</ref> |
* the [[Norwegian Armed Forces]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/norwegian-army-placed-on-strict-vegetarian-diet-8951722.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/norwegian-army-placed-on-strict-vegetarian-diet-8951722.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=Norwegian army placed on strict vegetarian diet | access-date=18 January 2016 | last=Saul | first=Heather | date=30 November 2013 | work=[[The Independent]] }}</ref> |
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==== Switzerland ==== |
==== Switzerland ==== |
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* Thursdays, coordinated by [[Swissveg]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Der grüne "Vegi-Tag" greift um sich|url=https://www.schweizerbauer.ch/politik--wirtschaft/agrarwirtschaft/der-gruene-vegi-tag-greift-um-sich-11888.html|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref> |
* Thursdays, coordinated by [[Swissveg]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Der grüne "Vegi-Tag" greift um sich|date=15 August 2013 |url=https://www.schweizerbauer.ch/politik--wirtschaft/agrarwirtschaft/der-gruene-vegi-tag-greift-um-sich-11888.html|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref> |
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=== North America === |
=== North America === |
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* [[Friday Fast]] |
* [[Friday Fast]] |
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* [[List of food days]] |
* [[List of food days]] |
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* [[List of food weeks]] |
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* [[List of food months]] |
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* [[Meatless Monday]] |
* [[Meatless Monday]] |
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* [[List of vegetarian festivals]] |
* [[List of vegetarian festivals]] |
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* [[Vegetarian week]] |
* [[Vegetarian week]] |
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* [[Vegan school meal]] |
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* [[World Vegan Day]] |
* [[World Vegan Day]] |
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* [[World Vegetarian Day]] |
* [[World Vegetarian Day]] |
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Meat-free daysorveggiedays are declared to discourage or prohibit the consumption of meat on certain days of the week. Mondays and Fridays are the most popular days. There are also movements encouraging people giving up meat on a weekly, monthly, or permanent basis.[citation needed]
Abstention from meat, other than fish, was historically done for religious reasons (e.g. the Friday Fast). In the Methodist Church, on Fridays, especially those of Lent, "abstinence from meat one day a week is a universal act of penitence".[1][2] Anglicans (Episcopalians) and Roman Catholics also traditionally observe Friday as a meat-free day.[3][4] Historically, Anglican and Catholic countries enforced prohibitions on eating meat, other than fish, on certain days of Lent. In England, for example, "butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly 'fish days', Friday and Saturday."[5] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Wednesdays and Fridays are meat-free days.[6] In the Lutheran Church, Fridays and Saturdays are historically considered meat-free days.[7] In addition to the Fridays of the year, in Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday—the first day of the repentance themed season of Lent—is a traditional day of fasting and abstinence from meat.[8][9]
Among East Asian Buddhists, vegetarian Buddhist cuisine was eaten on days tied to the phases of the moon known as Uposatha.[citation needed]
Meat-free days have also been observed due to wartime rationing (e.g. Meatless Tuesdays in Canada[10] and the United States—which also observed Wheatless Wednesdays—during World War I)[11][12] or in states with failing economies.[citation needed]
In the People's Republic of Poland, meat-free days were encouraged by the government due to market forces. They were aimed at limiting meat consumption, primarily in favour of flour-based foods. The meat-free day was traditionally Friday, Monday or Wednesday.[citation needed]
Attempts to reintroduce meat-free days are part of a campaign to reduce anthropogenic climate change and improve human health and animal welfare by reducing factory farming and promoting vegetarianismorveganism.
John Wesley, in his Journal, wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'
In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, there is a list of "Days of Fasting, or Abstinence," consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday).
Friday is a day of abstinence and self-denial for Catholics in health, and, by tradition, this became a meat-free day.
The main legally enforced prohibition in both Catholic and Anglican countries was that against meat. During Lent, the most prominent annual season of fasting in Catholic and Anglican churches, authorities enjoined abstinence from meat and sometimes "white meats" (cheese, milk, and eggs); in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly "fish days," Friday and Saturday.
In the Orthodox groups, on ordinary Wednesdays and Fridays no meat, olive oil, wine, or fish can be consumed.
Of the Eating of Meat: One should abstain from the eating of meat on Fridays and Saturdays, also in fasts, and this should be observed as an external ordinance at the command of his Imperial Majesty.
