Meatless Monday is the most pathetic excuse of trying to change anything in your life. I'm not even a full vegetarian myself but I wouldn't dream of patting myself on the back for not eating one specific type of food for a single day a week.
I stopped eating beef, I don't eat meat most days, I don't drive or own a car and I try to keep all consumption to a minimum. I'm definitely far from perfect but I don't pat myself on the back for turning off the tap while I brush my teeth, because that's normal. Eating meat everyday is not normal. So as far as I'm concerned nobody gets a medal for being normal.
Sorry for being so salty btw I was just in a bad mood when I wrote the original comment, oops.
It's because it isn't really something that is supposed to be very impactful on an individual basis.
The trend to push for people trying to eat less meat instead of no meat is because the majority of the population is unwilling currently to give up meat entirely, and are deciding on no changes to their diet when petitioned to try being vegetarian or vegan. But, if you can get most people to eat just less meat, there is a collective impact to the meat industry, and as a bonus, someone who has already agreed to reduce the meat in their diet is easier to convince to cut more meat than someone who has never agreed to change their diet at all.
I half-agree, as it's not only about not eating meat that day. It also makes people realize that there's actually good dishes you can do that taste good without a big, fat piece of meat. That might be obvious to you, but many people still don't accept that fact. Having a meatless day offers an opportunity to showcase vegetarian lifestyle to non-vegetarians. And once people realize that "hey, that's not as bad as I've thought!", they're gonna make vegetable stir-fry next Saturday too.
It’s the social mindset shift that’s important. Start doing things to change, no matter how small, and everything builds from there. Just do something.
Tbf veganism is an ethical position, not an environmental one. It's like not giving someone a pat on the back for "No Racism Thursdays" or "Didn't Kick a puppy" Wednesdays, because they're still doing the bad thing every other day of the week.