This school has a ‘golden rule’, and it’ll make you think twice about what your kids eat in cafeterias

The easiest way to convince people to stop eating meat is to ask them to go meatless on just one day of the week, then gradually work up to the entire week. Taking the first step may be the most difficult, but it is so important.

People usually designate Mondays as the official start of the week. It is but fitting, then, that the start of anyone’s journey to the total eradication of meat and other animal products from a person’s life should fall on a Monday. A meatless Monday.

Imagine then, our global online platform convincing the entire human community to take that first step. Some may call it a pipe dream. But for us, it’s a journey with a definite destination, and that destination gets ever so closer with every person engaging in a meatless Monday for the first time.

In 2012, Meatless Monday Philippines lobbied for House Bill 6311. the Meatless Monday Bill filed by Rep. Teddy Casino. The bases for that lobby, as enumerated by Meatless Monday Philippines founder and DOST Balik Scientist Custer Deocaris, were studies showing Filipinos consuming the least quantities of vegetables in the world. That also meant Filipinos ate more meat than most other nationalities. Sadly, that bill did not pass, but we soldiered on, and pushed for the practice of Meatless Mondays in schools nationwide.  

Vicente Hao Chin Jr., President, Golden Link College, who has been vegan for 50 years, told the students the importance of veganism in maintaining and prolonging the quality of life. He shared that there are now six Golden Link schools established by the Theosophical Society of the Philippines, and that all of them are vegetarian. Another Golden Link school has been opened in India.

“We may start another school somewhere in South America, and this will also be vegetarian with the same philosophy,” he said.

Nona Andaya Castillo, vegan activist for 28 years and co-founder of Meatless Monday Philippines, shared her knowledge of the various indigenous fruits and vegetables in the Philippines, as well as their nutritional values.

“According to the World Health Organization, processed meat is Grade One carcinogen. Level A. That means it’s valedictorian’, along with cigarettes. Grade B or Class B is red meat, and that is ‘salutatorian’ in carcinogen. That is cancer-causing,” Castillo told the students.

Food partner Quorn Philippines provided food samples not made from animal products. Quorn—through its nutritious fungus mycoprotein—has been proven by scientists to provide health benefits compared to animal protein. Yet the greenhouse gas impact of the mycoprotein used in all Quorn products is 90% lower than beef, and 70% lower than chicken. Quorn—a UK brand that is now owned by Philippine-based food conglomerate Monde Nissin—provides an efficient and sustainable way of producing a healthier protein source, called mycoprotein, without the need for raising livestock.