MEATOUT - 
KICK THE MEAT HABIT!
MEATOUT -
KICK THE MEAT HABIT!
Join this year's headliners Casey Kasem, James Cromwell, Peter Falk, Mary Tyler Moore, Earl Holliman, Rue McClanahan, Cassandra 'Elvira' Peterson, Kevin Nealon, Ed Begley, Jr. and Hayley Mills in promoting Meatout 2000 this March.Culminating on the first day of Spring, March 20th, thousands of caring folks in all 50 states and several other countries will put on educational events ranging from simple information tables and exhibits to elaborate receptions, cooking demonstrations, and festivals. They will encourage people to "kick the meat habit, at least for a day, and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet."
For the past 16 years, Meatout has enjoyed broad public support from educators , health providers, manufacturers and retailers of meatless foods , public interest advocates, writers, mass media, public officials, famous entertainers.
Why Meatout?
The Great American Meatout was launched in 1985 by consumer and animal protection activists to provide American consumers a one-day respite from the meat industry's relentless propaganda in schools, food markets, and the mass media. It was directed specifically at the "National Meat Week," then promoted by the meat industry and since accorded a proper burial.
From these humble beginnings, Meatout has grown explosively to become the nation's largest annual grass roots diet education campaign. Caring folks in nearly two thousand communities in all 50 states and several foreign countries welcome spring with colorful educational events. These range from simple information tables, exhibits, and cooking demonstrations to elaborate receptions and festivals. Visitors are asked to "kick the meat habit on March 20 (first day of spring) and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet."
The growth of Meatout has been reflected in important dietary trends:
- Over 30 million Americans have explored a meatless diet
- Vegetarianism is popular among teens
- National beef and veal consumption have dropped by 25 and 70 percent
- Major manufacturers and retailers are marketing meatless meals
- Mainstream health advocacy organizations are touting meatless eating
- US Dietary Guidelines for Americans have endorsed vegetarian diets
Since 1985, we have learned a great deal about the far-reaching benefits of "kicking the meat habit" on consumer health, resource conservation, environmental quality, and animal welfare:
- Kicking the meat habit reduces our risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and other chronic diseases that cripple and kill nearly 1.5 million Americans annually. It also lowers our exposure to infectious pathogens like Salmonella, E coli, and Campylobacteria which sicken millions and kill 9,000 annually.
- Kicking the meat habit raises our energy level, simplifies our food preparation and cleanup, and lowers our food budget.
- Kicking the meat habit frees up grains and soybeans, currently fed to animals, for the world's hungry people.
- Kicking the meat habit helps preserve topsoil, water, and other food production resources vital to the survival of our children and their children.
- Kicking the meat habit helps preserve our forests, grasslands, and other wildlife habitats and reduces pollution of our waterways by soil particles, debris, manure, and pesticides.
- Kicking the meat habit saves 35 innocent, sentient animals annually from caging, crowding, deprivation, drugging, mutilation, manhandling, and gruesome slaughter. That works out to 2,700 in a lifetime - enough to populate a large sanctuary.
Because of all these considerations, the Great American Meatout is now supported by a broad cross section of the American people. They include consumer and animal protection activists, public interest advocates, health providers, manufacturers and retailers of meatless foods, educators, writers, the mass media, public officials, and prominent entertainers.
Provided by: The Great American Meatout
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