The Belgian city of Ghent has declared Thursdays meat-free days. Should cities around the world join in the vegolution?

    People usually associate politicians, particularly in these troubled times, with hot air. But rather than spew out noxious gases, politicians and public officials in Ghent – the progressive Belgian city – have come up with a unique scheme to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions.

    You've probably heard of fish Fridays. Well, the Flemish university town of some 200,000 people has now introduced a weekly "Veggie Thursday" (Donderdag – Veggie Dag).

    So, what does Ghent – a picturesque town where cycling is a pleasure and not a death-defying gamble – hope to achieve?

    By encouraging public officials, school children and ordinary citizens to go voluntarily veggie one day a week, the city hopes to improve public health, reduce our impact on the environment and enhance animal welfare. In fact, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global."

    And if the idea catches on, the impact could be enormous. "If everyone in Flanders (population: six million) does not eat meat one day a week, we will save as much CO2 in a year as taking half a million cars off the road," said the Ethical Vegetarian Association spokesperson. Imagine if every city in the world followed suit!

    This is the kind of pioneering and creative initiative I have come to expect from the city that has been my home for the past four years. After all this is the place that declared its independence for a day last year in protest against the slow crumbling of the Belgian state. Under its tranquil surface lies a friendly but radical core of progressives, leftists, tree-huggers and eco-warriors.

    So even though I ate out in Brussels yesterday, I plumped for a veggie option: a delicious Lebanese mezze. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means vegetarian. In fact, I love indulging in carnivorous delights – I have even overcome my beef with pigs – and sometimes stand weak before the temptations of the flesh.

    But for the past couple of years, my wife and I have radically changed our diet and try to eat meat or fish only a couple of times a week. After an initial period of adjustment, we both feel healthier – I've even shed the Buddha belly that I had begun to grow – and better about putting less of a strain on the food chain and reducing our carbon footprint.

    Although traditional Belgian cuisine is quite rich and fatty, Ghent has a surprisingly large array of delicious veggie eateries and veggie options on menus, but Brussels easily beats it for its mind-boggling range of cuisines.

    "There has been a massive increase in demand for vegetarian dishes at my restaurant over the past few years," Wim Vandamme, a Ghent restauranteur told me. "The selection of vegetarian dishes we offer has also grown considerably." Vandamme says that his clients are eating veggie mainly for their own wellbeing, then comes animal welfare, and finally, the environment.

    The idea has triggered interest among other cities in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Canada. It has also been picked up by media around the world and captured the imagination of ordinary people. "One meatless day a week is a great idea, and no loss for those who want a tasty diet," said languedocienne on the Guardian's environment blog.

    It even looks as though the idea may attract more tourism to Ghent. "Right, that's the holiday booked! Ghent here I come!" Ciderguard enthused, as did other commenters.

    Of course, there's much more that can be done. But Juanveron's scepticism is perhaps uncalled for: "Imagine the reactions of a starving African or Asian family when they hear that, somewhere in Europe, people will abstain from eating meat for one day (what a sacrifice!)."

    The fact that millions suffering from malnutrition and famine is disgraceful and must be addressed, but reducing the meat consumption of the wealthy will help increase global food supplies and push down prices, as well as helping protect the environment for future generations. I think it's time to take this idea global.

    Let the vegolution begin!

    比利時根特市已經聲明星期四為無肉日。世界各地的城市是否也應該加入素食運動？

    人們總是把政客與說大話聯系起來，尤其是在此艱難時期。不過，進步的比利時城市根特的政治家和公務員們推出了一項獨特的措施，旨在減少城市溫室氣體的排放，而不是屁話連天。

    你可能聽說過“食魚星期五”。很好，如今佛蘭德語大學城大約二十萬居民推出了每周一次的“素食星期四”。

    那么，根特——在這個風景如畫的城市，人們把騎自行車當成人生樂趣，而不是挑戰死亡的冒險——希望達到什么目標呢？

    根特市希望通過鼓勵公務員、學生和普通市民每周自愿素食一天，來改善公眾健康、降低人類對環境的影響，提高動物的待遇。事實上，據聯合國糧農組織（FAO）說，“從地方到全球，畜牧業正逐漸成為引發最嚴重環境問題的前幾位原因之一。”

    如果素食的觀點流行起來，影響可能是巨大的。倫理素食協會發言人說，“如果佛蘭德斯（六百萬人口）的每個人一周有一天不吃肉，一年就能減少相當于五十萬輛汽車停運而減少的二氧化碳排放量。”想象一下，如果全世界所有城市都照這樣做會怎么樣！

    這一開拓性和創造性的倡議，來自我已經生活了四年的城市。畢竟，在去年，這個地方為了抗議比利時國家的緩慢崩潰而宣布獨立一天。在這座表面平靜的城市中，生活著進步人士、左傾份子、樹木擁抱者和生態斗士友好而激進的精髓。

    因此，盡管昨天我外出去布魯塞爾吃飯，也還是選擇了素食：一份美味的黎巴嫩Mezze。你可別誤解我的意思，我絕不是素食主義者。其實，我非常享受肉類美食——即使我已經強迫自己以豬肉替代了牛肉——有時還是難以抗拒肉食的誘惑。

    在過去幾年中，我和妻子已經完全改變了日常食譜，盡量每周只吃一兩次肉或魚。經過了初期的調整階段之后，我們都感到更健康了——甚至我那已經開始鼓起來的大肚腩也消下去了——我們為能減少食物鏈的壓力降低我們的碳足跡而感到高興。

    盡管傳統的比利時烹飪多脂油膩，根特仍然有一大批美味素食小吃店，菜單上也有大量的素食可供選擇，真是令人驚訝。而布魯塞爾的美食系列更令人難以置信，能輕易地把根特比下去。

    “在過去幾年中，來我餐館顧客對素食菜肴的需求量已經大幅度增加。”餐館老板維姆·萬帶姆告訴我，“我們提供的素食菜品種也增加了很多。”萬帶姆說，他的顧客吃素，主要是為自身健康著想，其次為動物待遇，最后才是為環境著想。

    這種觀念已經激發了比利時、荷蘭以及加拿大其它城市的興趣。世界各地的媒體也已經注意到這一點，同時贏得平民百姓的想像力。“每周一天無肉日是個了不起的主意，想吃美食的人并沒有損失。”languedocienne在衛報的環境博客上寫道。

    看起來，這個觀點甚至會吸引更多游客光臨根特。“不錯，那是個預定的假日！根特，我來了！”西德格德像其他批評家一樣熱情地說。

    當然還有更多可以做的事情。不過，Juanveron的懷疑也許并不必要：“想像一下吧，聽說歐洲某地的人民每周忌肉一天（那是多大的犧牲啊！），饑餓中的非洲或亞洲家庭會有何反應！”

    數百萬人受到營養不良和饑餓折磨的事實是可恥的，必須加以解決，而減少富人們的肉食消費將有助于增加全球食物供應，降低食品價格，而且還有助于為子孫后代保護環境。我想到了把這種觀點傳遍全球的時候了。

    讓素食運動開始吧！