Learn to "Eat With a Conscience" Saturday at the South Florida Wildlife Center

Meatless Monday has been around for quite some time, since WWI, actually. At that time, however, it was more about rationing meat during wartime than health, environmental, or animal-rights issues. Times change, and whether or not you believe meat is unethical or bad for your health, Americans certainly get plenty of it. Cutting it...

By Rebecca McBane

February 28, 2013

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Meatless Monday has been around for quite some time, since WWI, actually. At that time, however, it was more about rationing meat during wartime than health, environmental, or animal-rights issues.

Times change, and whether or not you believe meat is unethical or bad for your health, Americans certainly get plenty of it. Cutting it out one day a week can't hurt and might help.

If you are the type of person who makes dietary considerations with issues other than your taste buds in mind, you might want to check out this weekend's "Eating With a Conscience" luncheon with Paul Shapiro, vice president of Farm Animal Protection for the Humane Society of the United States, sponsored by the South Florida Wildlife Center.

See also

Five Cutest Animals Saved Wildlife Center (Photos)

Meatless Monday Taste Test: Gardein, the Substitute Chick'n

Johns Hopkins University reincarnated Meatless Mondays in 2003 to get people to eat a little healthier and to cut down -- ever so slightly -- on the environmental impacts of industrial meat production.

Shapiro and the Humane Society are particularly concerned with the animal-welfare side of Americans gorging on less carne. When one thinks of the Humane Society, one probably thinks of puppies and kittens, but it is concerned with providing decent lives for all animals, even the ones destined to be eaten.

"Most of the work of the Humane Society is dogs, cats, and wildlife, but we're concerned about the treatment of all animals," says Shapiro. "What we're trying to do here is help people understand that each one of us can make a difference for animals every time we sit down to eat. It's not all or nothing. It's hard to break a lifetime of ingrained eating habits. I think the point is just to make some progress. The vast majority of Americans are eating meat every day of their lives, and it doesn't have to be that way."

Shapiro is an inductee of the Animal Rights Hall of Fame (yes, that exists) for his investigations into and his work to protect farm animals from cruelty. He will speak about the plight of farm animals and educate about what you can do in your own life to help.

After the lecture, there will be a live demonstration of ethical eating in the form of a meatless luncheon served on the center's open-air pavilion. There, attendees will have the chance to speak with Shapiro one-on-one and learn more about the amazing work of the SFWC.

The SFWC is located at 3200 SW Fourth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. "Eating With a Conscience" takes place Saturday, March 2, from 11 a.m. to noon. It is free to attend.

Seating is limited, and registration is required by calling 954-524-4302, ext. 33,

or emailing [email protected]. Visit humanesociety.org/animal_community/shelters/wildlife_care_center.

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Rebecca McBane is the arts and culture/food editor for New Times Broward-Palm Beach. She began her journalism career at the Sun Sentinel's community newspaper offshoot, Forum Publishing Group, where she worked as the editorial assistant and wrote monthly features as well as the weekly library and literature column, "Shelf Life." After a brief stint bumming around London's East End (for no conceivable reason, according to her poor mother), she returned to real life and South Florida to start at New Times as the editorial assistant in 2009. A native Floridian, Rebecca avoids the sun and beach at all costs and can most often be found in a well-air-conditioned space with the glow of a laptop on her face.

Contact: Rebecca McBane

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