By Peru News Group (Originally in Spanish)
Inspired by news shared by one of our Association members that Norway’s troops were planning to adopt Meatless Mondays to help fight climate change, the Honorable Oscar Delgado, Commander-in-Chief of Peru’s 5th Mountain Brigade at the Mariscal Agustín Gamarra Command Headquarters in Cusco, contacted our Association for more information on this topic.
On December 17, Golden Year 10 (2013), our Cusco Association members organized two videoconferences on climate change. One was held in the main hall of the Army Command Headquarters and the other in the Mariscal Agustín Gamarra Headquarters of the 5th Mountain Brigade. They presented the findings on climate change by organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the European Parliament and explained that the most effective solution to reduce global warming is the vegan diet. Afterwards our Association members served various delicious and healthy vegan dishes, such as fish-free ceviche, vegan barbeque and non-alcoholic champagne.
The officers were very attentive during the conferences and stated they were happy to learn that there is something they can do to help curb global warming. They were also amazed by the vegan food served during the conferences and asked for more information.
Commander Delgado commented that because Peru has a huge range of nutritional plant-based products such as quinoa, kiwicha, tarwi, cañihua, beans and corn, they can easily replace meat with vegetarian meals in the near future. He asked Commander Luis Encalada Lescano of the Welfare Office to write a document on the lectures as well as the related recommendations so that they can be sent to the leaders of every unit. Once the initiative for the Peruvian Army to adopt Meatless Mondays is endorsed, it would be submitted to Lima City to the General Command of the Army Staff where the final decision would be made.
We applaud Commander-in-Chief Oscar Delgado and the whole Command Headquarters of the 5th Mountain Brigade for taking this initiative, and pray that the Peruvian Army will adopt the Earth-saving vegan policy in the near future.