Can you imagine your life without meat? Have you tried becoming a vegetarian for a few days or even more, a week? Didn’t you feel much lighter, healthier and stronger at the same time? If you haven’t tried it yet, AEGEE-Leuven gives you the best opportunity to challenge yourself. Being at its second edition, “Days without Meat” is trying to help all the AEGEE people to eat less meat, more vegetables and healthier foods. We talked with Tom Etienne, Main Responsible for the campaign, and we found out more about this year’s edition. So, quit eating that chicken drumstick and join the campaign! It might change your lifestyle completely.

The AEGEEan: To begin with, when was this campaign first created? 
Tom: Days Without Meat is a Flemish citizens’ initiative, so from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, that exists since 2011. Last year, AEGEE-Leuven set up a campaign in the AEGEE Network for AEGEEans to participate in. This year, we hold the campaign for the second time in a row.

What is the purpose of this campaign?
We aim to raise awareness on the ecological effects of our meat eating habits. According to several studies, our livestock’s share in greenhouse gas emissions is around 15%, although some say it’s a lot more. #AEGEEsDWM is not a plea for vegetarianism, but it does aim to reduce our meat consumption and replace it with more sustainable alternatives.

When does this year’s edition take place?
This year, the campaign takes place from the 10th of February until the 26th of March, forty days in total, not counting Sundays.

Is there a follow-up from the campaign? Are the results going to be published or sent somewhere?
The campaign is organised on two different platforms. The first one is the Facebook event, and the second one is the dagenzondervlees.be website, where you can sign up and indicate on a calendar your eating habits. The website then calculates how much you’ve saved on your carbon footprint. At the end of the campaign, we will have saved a lot, which of course, we’ll let people know.

Do you plan to also organise an event during this campaign? If so, please give us a few details about it.
The campaign is our main event in itself, but because the period includes the EPM in Leiden, they will incorporate it in their catering. We will be there at the AEGEE fair as well.

How many people have joined the campaign this year in comparison to last year?
At this moment, we have around 140 participants on Facebook. On the website, 55 people have signed up. This is slightly less compared to last year, but that doesn’t mean we cannot save more!

What would be the main benefits from joining this campaign?
Aside from the AEGEE spirit of many young and engaged Europeans working together for a better and more sustainable world, there is also your own health as a giant benefit. Eating less meat can be very healthy, especially if you take care of what you replace it with. Of course, joining the campaign sends the clear message that #AEGEEcares.

Do you plan to organise other related health campaigns in the future? Tell us a few words about them.
Just like last year, the campaign is sort of a step to our SU with AEGEE-Tilburg, which has a sustainable theme.

As a conclusion, what would you suggest to people who can’t live without meat?
‘Bitch, please’. We all know meat is very tasty at times, but also that, I repeat, we’re not asking you to ban it completely. Replace it once in a while, and you’ll be off a lot cheaper, healthier and more sustainable. You too can live without it a couple of days per week, it’s not that big of a deal. Just join #AEGEEsDWM and show that #AEGEEcares!

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

Each year, the Days Without Meat (DWM) campaign is organised in Belgium and lasts for forty days. During these days, people join each other to eat less meat and raise awareness about the impact our eating habits have on the environment. This year, AEGEE-Leuven thought it would be nice to join with a group of AEGEEans, and they invite you to join too! We spoke to Tom Etienne, President of the local, to find out more about this initiative and how AEGEEans can join.

The Days Without Meat logo

The AEGEEan: Where did the idea to join the Days Without Meat campaign come from?
Tom: The ‘Days Without Meat’ campaign (DWM) runs every year in Belgium for forty days. This year, two of our board members suggested we take part as a local. We came up with the idea to make this a European event that everyone can participate in from their own homes. It also serves as promotion for our awesome Summer University that we will organise together with AEGEE-Tilburg on the topic of sustainability. This is important to keep in mind: we’re not pleading for total vegetarianism, but for responsible eating habits!

When does the challenge take place?
It is a forty days campaign starting on the 18^th of February and ending during the Agora on the 4^th of April!

How can AEGEEans join you, and how many already have joined?
Joining is a very easy thing to do. In the event on Facebook you can find a detailed description, but you basically just have to make an account on the website and then join the AEGEE group in order for AEGEE to become the biggest participating organisation! We have nearly 100 participants in the Facebook event, but in the actual group there is definitely room for growth! We are currently fourth in the organisations category, but we could easily climb up to the first place!

Why should AEGEEans join you?
This is not a hard question to answer. First of all, it is a perfect opportunity to show that AEGEEans care about their environment. Second, it’s something that we can all do together, and to top it off, the campaign ends during the Agora, which will definitely make for an unforgettable closing party! There is one last thing: everyone who participates gets a free veggie meal in a Greenway restaurant in Leuven (or Ghent, Antwerp or Brussels). Another reason to participate and to visit us in Belgium!

What do you think will be the biggest challenges for people joining you?
I think the name of the campaign might sound rather frightening, because it’s called days without meat, even though that is not the main objective at all. We’d like to raise some awareness about our eating habits and their consequences on our environment, not to rule out meat in its entirety.

Do you have any tips for people who want to eat less meat?
Sure, it might seem like a hell of a job to cook vegetarian if you have barely ever done that before, but it’s totally fine to simply leave out meat for once. If you’re skipping meat for several days in a row, there are very tasty meat replacements, but for instance eggs would also do the job (and they’re so much cheaper!). We will keep the campaign very active during those forty days, so you can expect lots of information, motivation, suggestions, recipes etc. so that you will never feel discouraged! No worries, AEGEE-Leuven will take good care of you.

Since your challenge takes place during both the EPM and Agora, are you thinking of some kind of cooperation or actions to bring attention to the challenge?
We have only recently contacted AEGEE-Oviedo and AEGEE-Burgos to see what it is that we could do to cooperate, but we are aware of how big and difficult it is to organise such a huge event, so we don’t want to interfere with everything they’ve done. We’ll try to make sure you can eat vegetarian though! We would very much appreciate if locals could post this wonderful campaign onto their pages and into their groups, so that we can grow to become a big and friendly group of caring and engaged people. Oh, wait… A big and friendly group of caring and engaged people? This sounds like something we all know. This sounds like AEGEE! So I have only one more thing to say to you! Show that AEGEE cares!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen