Celebrity chefs, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich have recently brought publicity to the Meatless Monday movement by announcing that their restraunts will participate in this growing trend toward a healthier lifestyle and environmental responsibility. 

According to meatlessmonday.com, Meatless Monday began as a way to encourage food conservation during World War I. In 2003, this concept was reintroduced as part of a public awareness program to lower the risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

The idea driving this movement is “to reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.” 

Many celebrity chefs are showing their support for this growing trend by speaking out and changing the menus of their high-end restaurants to feature more vegetarian recipes to meet a growing public demand.

In addition to Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich, John Fraser, April Bloomfield, Katie Lee and Christina Pirello are just a few chefs who have joined this movement. 

“Biggest Loser” trainer Bob Harper, musician and vegetarian activist Sir Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, and former Vice President Al Gore are also advocates of the Meatless Monday concept.

There are many benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle such as, the compassion it shows to animals, better health, and a lower environmental impact.

Dr. Winston Craig, in an article on vegetarian-nutrition.info, states that a vegetarian diet of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes can lead to better health.

Try out Meatless Monday and enjoy hearty, satisfying vegetarian recipes like Vegetarian Cottage Pie and cheesy Black Bean Corn Enchiladas.