Meatless Monday and Slow Food Partner to Promote Global Food Sustainability

In the past century, global food production has changed dramatically, relying on standardized seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers to generate a surplus of food for a growing world population. But industrialization has had its drawbacks, most notably the destruction of the environment, the adverse impact on personal health, as well as the continued erosion of unique food cultures, dishes, and ingredients.

To address these changes, Meatless Monday teamed up with Slow Food International, a global grassroots organization dedicated to preventing the disappearance of local food traditions, to promote the abundance of plant-based foods and bring awareness to lesser-known and endangered ingredients.

Together, Slow Food USA — a division of Slow Food International — and Meatless Monday launched the Cook Up a Better Future program in 2017, which paired chefs with unique varieties of ingredients like Carolina gold rice, Sea Island red peas, and benne seeds. Thirty internationally recognized chefs including Alon Shaya, Drew Deckman, Rick Bayless, and Steven Satterfield created specific Meatless Monday recipes using these ingredients and ran in-store and social media-based promotions to generate awareness and interest.

The successful partnership between Meatless Monday and Slow Food led to the collaboration on yet another event, Meat the Change, which was designed to bring attention to the impact of intensive livestock farming on the health of the planet. Launched in Italy in 2018, Meat the Change encouraged chefs, restaurant owners, and patrons to adopt more conscious behaviors and habits in meat consumption, specifically learning how to select sustainable producers who respect animal welfare, limit waste, and understand the importance of local food ways.

Meatless Monday and Slow Food continue to collaborate in hopes of spreading the message of responsible food consumption and sourcing a growing number of people, cultures, and countries.