New Video: Meat Free Monday Launches in Japan

An exciting new Meat Free Monday campaign was launched in Tokyo at the weekend with the screening of an exclusive interview with Paul and a feast of delicious dishes from top veggie restaurants.

A hundred people attended the ‘Meat Free Monday All Japan’ launch on Saturday, enjoying meat free food from ‘Ain Soph.’, Olu Olu Cafe, Loving Hut and Hanada Rosso.

The new campaign will be run collaboratively by eleven Japanese organisations including Animal Rights Centre Japan (ARCJ), Vege Project and the Japanese Vegetarian Society, some of which have been running separate MFM initiatives. By joining forces the campaigners hope to be more effective in spreading the message and encouraging schools, restaurants and companies to get involved.

Interviewed when he was on tour in Japan in May, Paul explained how he grew up eating meat and never really thought about it much until one day when he was sitting down eating a plate of lamb and saw lambs outside in a field: “Like most people, you grow up and you just eat what your family eats,” he said. “Most of the time you get things from the supermarket and it’s packaged – it doesn’t look like an animal.”

Many people are unaware that meat production creates harmful greenhouse gases and requires increasingly unsustainable levels of precious resources including land, water and energy.

On being asked what advice he would give to anyone considering Meat Free Monday, Paul said that skipping meat for one day a week is an easy way to make a difference: “If enough people do this, it becomes a very important movement for the future of the planet. And you can do it. So do it!”

Watch the interview below:

Find out more about Meat Free Monday All Japan.