A lovely medieval city taking modern action...
The quiet city of Ghent, Belgium is not the first place you think of as a hotbed of progressive innovation. Not quite as charming as Bruges and clearly overshadowed by sophisticated Brussels, Ghent has stood for centuries as a bastion of middle class values: family, hard work, and the importance of food.
I lived in Ghent for three years in the 1970s, and when I close my eyes I can still hear the electric trams whirling around the narrow corners and smell that glorious combination of stagnant canal and sweet, sweet bakery that rolls over the town on damp mornings. I was pretty surprised to hear that Ghent, of all places, had gone vegetarian.
Well, not completely vegetarian…and perhaps that is the key. In recognition of meat production’s effect on global warming and on the health benefits of cutting back on eating animal products, the city’s politicians have launched a campaign, proclaiming every Thursday “Veggie Day.” All restaurants and schools are encouraged to provide at least one meatless option on Thursdays.
Not everyone is on board…yet. My old friend Alain writes me from Ghent that he is not participating and doesn’t know much about it, but “it’s not a bad thing, of course.”
Organizers quote U.N. figures that meat and dairy production contribute 18% of all global warming gases. No less a figure than Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has stated that eating less meat, such as cutting out animal products one day a week, is one of the easiest and most effective actions individuals can take to affect climate change.
Still it’s a start. No meat one day a week? It’s not exactly revolutionary, but it’s a beginning, an acknowledgment that there is a problem and that individual actions can make a difference. As the Buddhist saying goes, “The jug fills drop by drop.”
As we learn about the overwhelming challenges to the planet, and to life, arising from global warming, it’s natural to shut down and feel helpless. The people of Ghent have decided to do one small thing. Who’s next?
No related posts.
