Argentinian President Establishes “Vegan Mondays” at Presidential Office

Argentina’s presidential house, Casa Rosada (Pink House), recently announced their commitment to starting “Vegan Mondays,” only serving plant-based foods that one day during the week.

This commitment applies to the 554 employees, including President Mauricio Macri, and is part of an effort to get people to start conversations about the plant-based diet and change our eating habits.

“The only thing that will defend us from an unhealthy diet will be our behavioural changes in the way we eat,” Fernando de Andreis, Argentina’s Secretary General, explained in his Facebook announcement. “The purpose is to provoke a conversation about our food, our health, and start changing our diet.”

This is a big step forward for Argentina, as reducing meat consumption levels also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and would help fight climate change.

“We set out to make this change for two very important reasons,” Andreis wrote in his announcement. “On the one hand, so that at least once a week the 554 people who eat lunch at the casa pink eat a lean menu that will contribute to the improvement of their health. On the other hand, knowing the curiosity that awakens in the country everything that goes on in the house, as a simple way to start an intense discussion about the diet of Argentines.”

While Andreis explains that the real purpose of this commitment is not to be vegan, but to start a conversation, the benefits of veganism apply to both our planet and the people who inhabit it. Earlier this year, Portugal officially passed a law that required public institutions to offer a vegan, or “strict vegetarian,” option, and Germany no longer serves meat at government functions.

Eliminating animal products from our diets doesn’t only come with health benefits, but it spares an innocent life too!

#meatlessmonday