24 July 2009

Belgian City of Ghent Goes Vegetarian!

According to this BBC story, city officials in Ghent, Belgium, are encouraging all residents to go vegetarian one day a week. Thursday has been officially designated "Veggie Day." As a result, the main menu in restaurants on Thursdays will be vegetarian. Starting in September, schools will serve vegetarian meals to schoolchildren on Thursdays as well. The city is promoting vegetarianism as a way to reduce its environmental footprint and to help tackle obesity.

In this interview with BBC World Service, Tom Balthazar, deputy mayor of Ghent, explains in more detail why Ghent is going vegetarian on Thursdays.

Note from KBJ: I'm sure Mylan will agree with me that it would be better, morally, if the vegetarian diet were being adopted for the sake of the animals. A Kantian (though not Kant himself) would say that while the act is right, in the sense of being in accordance with duty, it has no moral worth, since it is not done from duty. In other words, the right thing is being done for the wrong reason.