Tourism Flanders-Brussels goes green

Following the recent news that the Flemish city of Ghent, which is renowned for its gastronomy, has become the first city in the world to become vegetarian at least once a week, the team at Tourism Flanders-Brussels UK have decided to follow suit and join the weekly “Veggie Day” initiative.

Starting next Thursday 21st May, and in recognition of Ghent’s ground-breaking green idea, everyone working for the organisation’s UK office will show their support by making every Thursday a vegetarian-only day.

This comes as last Thursday Ghent, one of Europe’s 370 climate cities, embarked on an unprecedented experiment, seeking to make every Thursday a meat-free day by encouraging its inhabitants to go green and turn to vegetables at least once a week. This major experiment is a pioneering first step in the effort to tackle global warming, cruelty to animals and obesity as well as an attempt to dispel any preconceived ideas that vegetarian dishes aren’t worthy of gastro-recognition.

It’s a well-known fact that Ghent is a paradise for food lovers due to its delicious meat, fish and shellfish dishes. However, it will now be even more appealing to those who enjoy vegetarian cuisine and, what is more, in recent years Ghent has actually been dubbed by many as the veggie capital of Europe as it offers more vegetarian restaurants per inhabitant than Paris, London and Berlin. Many traditional restaurants in Ghent also include wide-ranging vegetarian options on their menus.

Eating less meat is the largest step one can take to minimize your foods eco-footprint. Stock breeding and meat consumption has a very large impact on the environment and the former is responsible for 18% of the world’s emission of greenhouse gasses. This is more then the entire transport sector!

Tourism Flanders-Brussels UK has initiated a poll on its ‘Fabulous Flanders’ Facebook page to let the UK public decide, on a weekly basis, whether the team should become vegetarian for a day as well as offer suggestions as to what they can eat. In addition, every Thursday a typical Flemish vegetarian recipe shall be posted on the Facebook fan page and updates shall be sent to its followers.

Dawn Page, Director of Tourism Flanders-Brussels in the UK commented: “Ghent, and Flanders as a whole, is committed to promoting green initiatives and we actively support the sustainability of the destination. We urge all members of the British public to get involved, whether it’s through our ‘Fabulous Flanders’ Facebook page or by actually joining us in our mission to make Thursdays a ‘Veggie Day’ for all.”

She went on to say: “Flanders has always been celebrated for its fantastic gastronomy and eco-friendliness. We hope that by supporting this innovative idea, people who join Veggie Day will help us spread the message and together, do our bit for the environment.”

To join Tourism Flanders-Brussels’ Facebook page, go to http://tinyurl.com/r6q49w