Tom Balthazar, a Ghent city councillor, says abstaining from meat one day a week “is good for the climate, your health and your taste buds.

“A balanced vegetarian meal is not only sustainable, but also a healthy meal,” he said.

“We eat too much meat in Flanders and too little fruit and that has disastrous consequences for our health.

“Too much eating meat increases the cholesterol and the risk of some cancers, diabetes and obesity.”

Listen again to BBC World Service interview at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/video_and_audio/8048428.stm

On the launch day “…parent onlookers laughed and munched another soya fritter. Mmm, yummy, said the man with a heart condition. They queued five-deep in the rain to dip their organic, wholegrain bread in the aubergine caviar, to smear their lips with eggless mayo. Another pure fruit vitamin cocktail under the marquee?”

Ref: ‘Day of the lentil burghers: Ghent goes veggie to lose weight and save planet’ – Guardian.co.uk, 14 May 2009