A couple of weeks ago I was at a community event when I ran
into Sola Pallotta, owner of the Very Virginia Shop and one of our Loudoun
Meatless Monday partners. “Did you see
the article about Meatless Monday in the Leesburg Today?” she asked. Her question took me completely by
surprise. Even though I had yet to read
the paper, it seemed to me that I would have had some prior knowledge of any such
article. Or written it myself. In fact, none of the folks involved in the
launch of Loudoun Meatless Mondays had anything to do with the piece, entitled Embrace Loudoun’s Meatless Monday with Soy
by Samantha Bartram.
It was a thoughtful article that addressed the challenge that
going meatless – even for one day a week – presented to some people. It also offered practical “how to” tips by demystifying
the practice of cooking with those oft
joked about vegetarian staples, tofu and texturized vegetable protein (TVP.) (Though truthfully, most vegetarians admit to
going through an initial phase of purchasing blocks of tofu, only to later throw
them out after letting them sit untouched for months in their refrigerators. Newbies generally have more success with simple
dishes like bean burritos, stir fries, veggie chili, meatless pasta and Boca
burgers.) My favorite part of this
article, however, was that its writing was unprompted by anyone with a stake in
the original campaign. Which meant only
one thing: our movement had momentum.
People were talking about it. Many were really trying to get on board with
it. And while some may still be
struggling a bit to embrace it, there was little doubt that “Meatless Monday” had
become part of the Loudoun lexicon. Fantastic!
Because the first step in any cultural change is building awareness, and
we were clearly succeeding on that front.
A few weeks earlier I had a similar experience at a local
farmers’ market, where I was doing a vegan cooking demonstration. A woman named Karen introduced herself to me
and said she was trying to start a Meatless Monday initiative in her
company. Wow, I thought, not only was the campaign taking
hold among the residents of Loudoun County, it was beginning to sprout up in
the business community as well. For this
we owe a debt of thanks to the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce and our local
government for recognizing the environmental benefit of initiatives like Meatless
Monday in this year’s Green Business Challenge.
Karen’s company was a winner in
last year’s Challenge and is clearly committed to environmental
stewardship. Whether or not it officially adopts a Meatless
Monday campaign, the fact that the idea is being discussed and considered
within a large multi-national company like Karen’s is a clear signal that the
movement has truly taken off.
