German Politicians Propose 'Veggie Only' Days

The average person in Germany eats 196 pounds of meat a year, but the country's Green Party proposed a measure this week that would cut back on that amount by instituting a weekly "veggie only" day at offices, schools, and kindergarten canteens around the country.

"A Veggie Day is a wonderful opportunity to try to nourish ourselves without meat and sausages. Cooking vegetarian is about more than just leaving out meat," Renate Künast, chairwoman of the Green Party parliamentary group said.

As cutting down on meat consumption is expected to help people's health, the environment, and possibly the living conditions of animals, environmental groups are definitely on board.

According to The Local, the head of the German Association of the Environment and Protection of Nature said he was pushing for the meat-free day and eventually for 20 percent of the meat served in canteens to be organic by 2015.

The Green Party's plan is not without its opposition, though, as a lot of people just want to be able to eat meat whenever they want it. While the city of Bremen has already successfully enacted a weekly vegetarian day, Stuttgart's plan to do so irked enough meat lovers that it never got off the ground. Introducing the measure across Germany is likely to run into even greater opposition.