Producing one pound of beef uses as much fuel as driving a car thirty two miles. This statistic was considered as St. Paul Academy and Summit School decided to offer one meat free day of lunch each week.

Starting Jan. 5, Meatless Monday is on the menu. Chef Simon and the Taher team plan a day filled with vegetables, pastas, and non-animal protein.

“I love Meatless Monday. It gives me and other people who can’t have meat [for religious or personal reasons] a chance to have a full lunch, freshman Mira Zelle said.

“It’s great for vegetarians, like me,” junior George Stiffman added. “There are more hot food options.”

Zelle agrees: “Usually, the veggie option is very small and we don’t often get enough to eat. On Meatless Monday, non veggie people can still eat a full meal.”

Meatless Mondays is a global movement that works to help the environment and better people’s health. According to their website, it takes approximately 1,850 gallons of water to make 1 lb. of beef and 518 gallons to make 1 lb. of chicken; conversely, only about 39 gallons of water are used to make 1 lb. of vegetables.

Freshman Tom Patterson is not a fan of the day: “I do not like Meatless Monday because I love meat,” he said.

Senior Cullen McCabe suggests a compromise: “I think there should be sandwich meat out on Meatless Mondays at least.”

The decision to eat or not eat meat feels personal. “I think that the idea behind Meatless Monday is good, but I respect dietary choices of others and I hope that they respect dietary choices of mine. My dietary choice is to eat meat quite often,” freshman Jack Herrmann said.

Meat does still contain necessary protein, which is why every Monday there has been an additional source of protein available like cheese or beans.

Of Meatless Monday, freshman Maya Shrestha said, “It’s a great way to give vegetarians more options for meals. People who like meat are probably fine without it once a week.”

In truth, Meatless Monday may be doing those meat lovers a favor since, as the site reports, going meatless will help curb obesity, reduce cancer risk, lessen the risk for heart disease and stroke, fight diabetes and maintain longer life.

Senior Olivia Black said, “Having been a vegetarian for six years and participated in environmental science, I think it is important that as a community we help out in the global initiatives of lowering our environmental impact through reducing consumption of meat.”