After its successful, noteworthy debut in the United Kingdom last 2015, World Meat Free Day comes to the Philippines this June 13, 2016—and it is meant to make people aware of the long but weighty connection between chicken breasts, bacon, and steak to this phenomenon called climate change.

Qourn Rosemary Garlic “Chicken” Fillet in Assorted Greens Salad, Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette with Grapes, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts, and Parmesan Crisp

Climate change conscious individuals may have gone as far as biking to work or permanently dismissing the use of plastics, and these are good. The great news is that if you find biking to work too hazardous in Metro Manila roads—and it really is—then substituting your sisig with a vegetable stir fry for a day can do just as much help, if not more.

Quorn “Meatballs” with Homemade Linguine Pasta, and White Truffle Cream Sauce

In actuality, there’s no need to entirely give up meat. Just embrace a ‘less but better’ approach in your food choices and consumption. Imagine, each person who foregoes one meat-based meal can save the equivalent daily water usage of 9 people and have a carbon saving equivalent to boiling a kettle 388 times—now, do the same exercise and multiply that by 9-billion.

Warm Molten Chocolate with Coffee Ice Cream, and Caramel Popcorn

Anyone who wants to pitch in and save the planet can do so very simply, by foregoing meat for just one meal, every now and then. And you can start this habit by participating in the World Meat Free Day! To inspire you to make this change, check how your foregone meals actually translate to less greenhouse gas emissions by using the sustainability calculator in the World Meat Free Day website (http://www.worldmeatfreeday.com/sustainability-calculator/).

So, the next time you would have to choose between a 100-peso chicken fajita and a humble sautéed pechay with oyster sauce, dare and care to do the math.

Stay hungry,

thehungrychef

Nathaniel Uy