Legal / Regulatory

Meat-centric Argentina starts "Lunes Vegano" or "Monday Vegan"

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Today, and every Monday, the dining room of Casa Rosada, the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina, will have an exclusively vegan menu.

All employees and officials of Government House, known as Casa Rosada or The Pink House in english, including President Mauricio Macri, will exclude animal products from their diets one day per week.

Unfortunately the Argentinian government does not mention animal rights as part of their rationale.

Rather improved health and the desire to start an intense discussion about diet are their prime motivation.

Argentina's Secretary General Fernando de Andreis', Facebook page explained the two-fold reasons behind their decision.

"At least once a week the 554 people who have lunch at Casa Rosada, eat a lean menu that will contribute to the improvement of their health."

And secondly, de Andreis is hopeful that the move at Casa Rosada, known officially as Government House, will start a more widespread discussion about the Argentinian diet. The primary concern is that Argentine families are exposed to more processed products rich in harmful fats and excess salt and sugar. "The only thing that will defend us from an unhealthy diet will be our behavioural changes in the way we eat."

"If we had called it 'Healthy Monday' or 'Vegetable Monday' you would not be reading this."

Disappointingly, there is no specific mention about reducing consumption of meat and other animal products on other days. Argentinians eat more beef than people in any other country, about 140 pounds per person a year, according to a 2006 report from the Washington Post Foreign Service. It seems to be almost a birth right.

Even the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that red meat is "probably carcinogenic to humans" in October 2015, was met with skepticism. "I'd rather die than give it up" was the title of an article by The Guardian on Argentinian's reaction to WHO's report linking meat to cancer.

But there are signs of progress. Despite a deeply ingrained meat-centric history, the city of Buenos Aires, for example, is starting to embrace a growing vegetarian and vegan community, according to The Argentina Independent.