World Vegetarian Day is observed annually around the planet on October 1. It is a day of celebration established by the

North American Vegetarian Society The North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) is a charity and activist organization with the stated objectives of supporting vegetarians and informing the public about the benefits of vegetarianism. It was initially founded in 1974 to organize the ...

in 1977 and endorsed by the

International Vegetarian Union The International Vegetarian Union (IVU) is an international non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote vegetarianism. The IVU was founded in 1908 in Dresden, Germany. It is an umbrella organisation, which includes organisations from ...

in 1978, "To promote the joy, compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism." It brings awareness to the

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. World Vegetarian Day initiates the month of October as Vegetarian Awareness Month, which ends with November 1,

World Vegan Day World Vegan Day is an annual event celebrated by vegans around the world every 1 November. The benefits of veganism for animals, humans and the natural environment are celebrated through activities such as setting up stalls, hosting potlucks, an ...

, as the end of that month of celebration. Vegetarian Awareness Month has been known variously as "Reverence for Life" month, "Month of Vegetarian Food", and more.

Additional days

Several additional days of vegetarian significance are included in or on the edge of Vegetarian Awareness Month: * Month of September - National Fruits & Veggies Month * September 24 or 27 – "Hug a Vegan/Vegetarian Day" * September 29 – World Heart Day * October 1 – World Vegetarian Day * October 2 – World Farm Animals Day (WFAD) or World Day for Farm(ed) Animals, birthday of Mohandas K. Gandhi * October 4 – The Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi and World Animal Day * October 4 – Hug a Non-Meat Eater Day * October 1–7 – International Vegetarian Week (IVW) - in several nations across the planet (but especially in Europe), many public educational and celebratory events are organized to promote the

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

lifestyle.International Vegetarian Week
/ref> * First full week and additional 'straggler' days (in order to include as many weekends as possible for church, mosque, and temple involvement) – World Week of Prayer for Animals and World Animal Day (always includes The Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi). This may have been initiated by the now-defunct INRA (International Network for Religion and Animals), founded in 1985 by Virginia Bouraquardez (also known as Ginnie Bee), and later led by UCC minister, Rev. Marc Wessels. * October 16 – United Nations

World Food Day World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year worldwide on October 16 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organization ...

(often a time of global reckoning with issues of human food security) – the date of the founding of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in 1945. * November 1 – International Vegan Day, also known as

– a vegan holiday celebrated since 1994 to commemorate the creation of The

Vegan Society Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. D ...

* Month of November - Vegan Awareness Month or World Vegan Month.

Additional Global Vegetarian Days

* March 20 – Great American Meatout – developed and sponsored every year by FARM, also known as Farm Animal Rights Movement. * World Meat Free Day (June 13, 2016) is sponsored by a gathering of like-minded organisations - Eating Better Alliance,

Compassion in World Farming Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation. It campaigns against the live export of animals, certain methods of livestock slaughter, and all systems of factory farming. It has received celebr ...

, Friends of the Earth, and a few more - who want to spread the messaging regarding the impact

meat consumption Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chick ...

can have on sustainability and health. * The last Friday of September- International 'Hug a Vegetarian' Day Some may have tried to 'regularize' that floating date for "Hug a Vegan/Vegetarian Day" as either September 24 or 27 rather than the last Friday of September, as set by PETA2 in 2014 or before * November 25 – International Vegetarian Day also known as SAK Meatless Day – the birthday of Sadhu T. L. Vaswani (largely celebrated in India and throughout the Asian Pacific Rim nations, but known in Western nations among many vegetarians of Indian and Southeast Asian descent).

International Vegetarian Days

Meatless Monday Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to not eat meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet. Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the ...

– Every Week, go totally meatless on Monday – an international campaign that encourages people to cut out (not eat) meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet. Reducing meat consumption by 15% (the equivalent of one day a week) lessens the risk of chronic preventable illness and has a strong positive impact on the environment (strongly reduces ecological damages from the activities involved with meat production and transport or distribution). Meatless Monday offers weekly meat-free recipes, articles, tips and news. Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...

. The program follows the nutrition guidelines developed by the USDA. Meatless Monday is part of the Healthy Monday initiative. Healthy Monday encourages Americans to make healthier decisions at the start of every week. Other Healthy Monday campaigns include: Do The Monday 2000, Quit and Stay Quit Monday, Move it Monday, Monday Mile and others.

Graphics

Various graphic and artistic representations are used; there is no one logo to represent World Vegetarian Day. Some of the other dates within Vegetarian Awareness Month have their own logos, or a series of logo representations, if they are sponsored in part or totally by identifiable organizations.

Chinese society vegetarian days

There is a common practice for some Chinese people to be vegetarian twice a lunar month - the first day and the 15th day of each lunar month. (初一)﹑(十五). The 15th day of each lunar month is the day/night with full moon. Local vegetarian restaurants are particularly busy on those 2 days. The origin of such practice is related to religious beliefs.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Vegetarianism October observances Vegetarian organizations International observances Observances about food and drink Vegetarianism in North America