Ghent’s meat-free Thursdays help make plant-based eating part of daily life
Ghent has made plant-based eating part of everyday life through a city-wide “Veggie Day” on Thursdays and changes to school, workplace and restaurant food. The approach grew from grassroots calls for climate action, which local politicians turned into policy in 2009, and shows how making meat-free meals familiar and appealing can encourage people to eat less meat.
The article says the share of Ghent residents identifying as flexitarian rose from 13% in 2014 to 83% this year. School caterers serve vegetarian meals and adapt familiar dishes with plant proteins; a taste panel helps refine recipes, and the carbon footprint of school meals has fallen by 38% since 2018. The city has also reached the Flemish target of shifting the balance of protein consumption from 60:40 animal-to-plant to 40:60 by 2030.
- Ghent made Thursdays meat-free across much of the city.
- 83% of residents now identify as flexitarian.
- School meal emissions have fallen by 38% since 2018.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Veggie Thursdays and vegan surprises! How Ghent became a plant-based paradise”.