McCartney

London, June 23: Paul McCartney has called on Britons to adopt one day a week when they forego eating meat in an effort to reduce carbon emission caused by intensive cattle rearing.

The former Beatle, who was converted to vegetarianism by his late first wife, Linda, suggests “meat-free Mondays”.

Cutting out meat one day a week is popular in Australia, where shoppers had become conscious of the environmental impact of cattle rearing and meat production, he emphasised.

Several Hindu families, women especially, fast once a week, a practice imported from India. This is seen partly as a process of detoxification but there is also a religious element to fasting.

One woman said: “Monday belongs to Shivji. We don’t eat meat at all. But what Paul McCartney is saying is quite sensible.”

When The Telegraph approached businessman Srichand Hinduja for a comment, he apologised because “I am at the lunch table”.

A strict vegetarian, he seeks to discourage his friends from eating meat by telling them: “You realise you are eating dead flesh.”

In an interview with trade magazine The Grocer, which has been going since 1862, McCartney called on UK consumers to cut down on meat consumption even if they could not give it up altogether.

“A lot of people go to the gym on a Monday,” he told the magazine.

“With meat-free Mondays, it’s a bit like going to the gym but with the added advantage of protecting the planet,” said McCartney, who turned 66 last week.

He added he was encouraged by the lead set by the UN on the issue.

“One of the most significant conclusions of the recent report on climate change was that we should eat less meat,” he pointed out. “This is not the Vegetarian Society that said that. It’s the UN.”

The former Beatle, who has gone through an acrimonious divorce from his second wife, Heather Mills, is the latest celebrity to appear in a Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advertising campaign promoting vegetarianism.

Along with stars including Alicia Silverstone, Casey Affleck, and Forest Whitaker, the former Beatle dons an “Eat no animal” T-shirt for the campaign.

The editor of The Grocer, Adam Leyland, said that McCartney’s call for people to give up meat once a week was “a concept that will jibe with a lot of people. He has given us food for thought”.

McCartney was not asking people to give up meat.

“But you don’t have to eat meat with every meal,” commented Leyland. “I would much rather eat better quality meat less often.”