"Meatless Monday" initiative urges Americans to go vegetarian on Mondays to improve overall health
NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ —
The Monday Campaigns, best known for its non-profit “Meatless Monday” campaign, is partnering with collaborative e-health platform Fitango.com to offer an Actionplan for a healthier March. The Meatless Monday program, which began in 2003 in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, encourages Americans to go vegetarian on the first day of the work-week to improve their health and help the environment. To aid Americans in going meatless on the first day of the week, Fitango will be offering a free comprehensive “Make Mondays Meatless in March” Actionplan, and will be spotlighting the work of the Healthy Monday initiative throughout the month.
Fitango is the latest organization to join the Meatless Monday cause, which has been adopted by celebrities including Al Gore, Sir Paul McCartney and Oprah Winfrey, as well as high-profile chefs and food experts like Michael Pollan and Giada DeLaurentiis.
"The great thing about Meatless Monday is that it's a grassroots message— we rely on people to get out there and talk about it," says Meatless Monday advocate Sharon Palmer, R.D., author of The Plant-Powered Diet. "Celebrities, chefs, and influencers are doing Meatless Monday, which makes a big impact on spreading the word."
Fitango's role in spreading the word will be augmented by its interactive Meatless Monday Actionplan, which contains shopping lists, recipes, and everything else readers will need to get started. Actionplans are expert-crafted, step-by-step guides to meeting or maintaining a health goal, which engage and motivate users through journaling, tracking software, and social support.
Fitango founder and CEO Dr. Dov Biran believes the site's versatile platform can help to present users with a uniquely easy and compelling way to join the Meatless Monday initiative.
"Meatless Monday has a great message, but many people may not know where to begin," says Dr. Biran. "With our Meatless Monday Actionplan, users are guided through the entire process, all while receiving social and motivational support from their friends. Not only does this make it easy to join the movement, when our users invite friends to become motivators, they spread the word about the campaign's health benefits. Fitango's interactive platform is simply the best way for health initiatives to engage new audiences, and we're always looking for great initiatives like Meatless Monday to support."
Cherry Dumaual, partnerships director at The Monday Campaigns, looks forward to working with Fitango. "We're excited to work with Fitango because we share the same mission to help people stay committed to their health and well-being," says Dumaual. "In addition to Meatless Monday, we'll share our Healthy Monday tips with Fitango. By collaborating on the Healthy Monday initiative, we're achieving our mutual goal of motivating individuals and using Monday as a day for a fresh start — a chance to set healthy intentions for the next 6 days. Our studies show that frequent, periodic health messages tap into the rhythm of the week and that Monday can be effective in shaping healthy behavior."
To more effectively spread the message that Monday is the perfect time for a fresh start, Fitango is offering the Meatless Monday Actionplan free of charge and will offer fresh tips for health and wellness every Monday.
CONTACT:
Rebecca Bar, Marketing
212-956-0555, ext. 302