NEWPORT BEACH, CA - I’ll take any chance I can get to add more vegetables to my diet. Many consumers just like me are increasingly seeking out new ways to boost consumption, and Side Delights® is giving it to them. Just 20 years have passed since the Meatless Mondays movement began in 2003, and to celebrate this milestone, the potato brand is encouraging shoppers to swap their meat out for potatoes.

“Moving into spring, shoppers are looking for healthy, hearty meatless meal options that support sustainability,” noted Kathleen Triou, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fresh Solutions Network. “Potatoes are the perfect foundation for a vegetarian meal as the center of the plate or the key ingredient when deciding what to cook for a healthy start to the week.”

A press release cited studies from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future that indicate adopting a more plant-based diet can decrease agricultural land use by 80 percent and agricultural water use by 50 percent. The emissions saved by eliminating meat just once a week for a year is equivalent to driving nearly 350 miles in a car, an article from Chattanooga Times Free Press stated.

Retailers’ sales of refrigerated meat alternatives are declining, with shoppers substituting real plant-based options, according to the press release’s citation of a Bloomberg article. Potatoes are a good source of energy, nutrients, and protein, and are also filling, satisfying, and gluten-free.

Side Delights’ suggests recipes like the Southwest Potato Bowl by Vegetarian Mamma, or the Bubble & Squeak with Garlicky Mushrooms and Fried Egg and Deep Dish Potato Torta with Peppers and Olives for Meatless Mondays.

Keep a lookout for more reports from ANUK.

Fresh Solutions Network