The psalmist this Sunday asks God to "renew the face of the earth." With climate change threatening the earth's ecosystem, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, last year suggested that ordinary citizens could help by refraining from eating meat. In Belgium an entire town is taking his advice to heart.

The Flemish city of Ghent has designated every Thursday as "Veggiedag"-Veggie Day-calling for meat-free meals to be served in schools and public buildings and encouraging vegetarianism among citizens by promoting vegetarian eateries and offering advice on how to follow a herbivorous diet.

According to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, meat production accounts for 18 percent of annual greenhouse-gas emissions-more than transportation, which accounts for roughly 14 percent. Each year millions of acres of rain forest are cleared for cattle ranchers and suppliers of animal feed, further accelerating climate change.

There are also human health issues. The world feeds much of its grain to cattle and other animals even as millions of people starve. Those wealthy enough to consume fatty animal products are themselves at higher risk of certain health problems, including heart disease and some cancers, say health experts.

A number of organizations and countries hope to reshape meat consumption from an animal rights issue into an environmental and public health one. Germany’s federal environment agency, for example, issued an advisory earlier this year urging Germans to return to pre-World War II norms of eating meat only on special occasions.

According to Tobias Leenaert, codirector of the government-funded nonprofit organization Ethical Vegetarian Alternative, since Ghent's Veggie Day was launched on May 13, environmental health officers from several other cities-including Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a population of 13 million-have expressed interest in copying the program.

Source: An article by Eben Harrell for TIME