Paul McCartney Thinks ‘Meat Free Monday’ Could Help Save the Planet

He might be busy picking up Grammy nominations for his latest album, but Paul McCartney still has time to pursue humanitarian efforts -- and his latest involves trying to get you to set aside one day a week to stuff your face with something other than meat.

Dubbed 'Meatless Monday,' McCartney's plan has been presented to world leaders currently taking part in a global climate change conference, in the hopes of raising awareness of the environmental effects of industrial meat farming.

As NME reports, a copy of McCartney's letter has gone out to a number of political figures, including the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It reads, in part:

Although more and more evidence is coming to light showing how the growth of the global meat industry is having alarming environmental consequences, the impact of the livestock sector on global warming does not yet seem to have been acknowledged ... I therefore call upon you to bring this issue to the attention of the conference and encourage the adoption of policy and individual actions, such as a weekly meat-free day ... Encouraging initiatives such as Meat Free Monday would make a considerable difference to the future of the planet.

While it seems unlikely that McCartney's efforts are going to make much of an impact in anyone's diet, it also seems pretty reasonable to assume that a sizable percentage of humans are already leaving meat out of their diet at least once a week, if only for the sake of mixing things up once in awhile and/or maintaining a harmonious relationship with their colons. How about you -- are you eating meat every day? Are you willing to observe 'Meat-Free Monday'?