Meatless Monday improves meal nutrition

Meatless Monday can be an effective tool to meet the goal of U.S. families eating fewer servings of meat and saturated fat, a survey indicates. An online survey conducted by FGI Research found Meatless Monday not only influenced people to reduce meat intake, but encouraged them to incorporate healthier alternatives -- 73 percent said they ate more vegetables, 64 percent ate more fruit, 42 percent ate more beans and 47 percent ate more whole grains. The survey also found 36 percent said they were aware of Meatless Monday and that the campaign influenced their decision to cut back or to consider cutting back on meat. Half of the respondents say they've experimented with new meatless recipes when they cook at home and 42 percent have tried more meatless meals when eating out. "We started out with the simple goal of cutting back on meat and saturated fat and along the way found that Meatless Monday had become a way to get lots of delicious meatless alternatives on America's plates," Sid Lerner, chairman and founder of The Monday Campaigns, said in a statement. The findings are scheduled to be presented at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Food & Nutrition Conference in Philadelphia. The survey of 1,005 U.S. adults was conducted in July and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.