Meatless Monday: A Simple Idea Sparks a Global Healthy Food Movement: Peggy Neu at TEDxManhattan

Peggy Neu is President of The Monday Campaigns, a public health initiative that encourages organizations and individuals to use Monday as the day to start and sustain healthy behaviors. Meatless Monday, the first campaign launched in 2003 with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Schools of Public Health, has become a global movement through viral dissemination by committed advocates and the participation of key influencers and organizations like Oprah, Mario Batali, Sodexo and a growing number of schools, companies, restaurants and whole communities.

In the US, awareness of the campaign has reached 43% without any paid media, with 36% of those aware saying that Meatless Monday influenced their decision to cut back on meat. Around the world Meatless Monday can be found in 24 countries, reflecting a shared commitment to address the health and environmental consequences of a meat-centric diet.

The Monday Campaigns now has campaigns that address a range of health behaviors including nutrition, physical activity, tobacco cessation, preventive screenings and overall wellness that are being implemented in a variety of settings.

Prior to the Monday Campaigns, Peggy was an Executive Vice President with Grey Worldwide, one of the world's largest communications companies, working with clients such as Procter and Gamble, Sprint, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and the Department of Health and Human Services.

She serves on the board of the Nalanda Institute of Contemplative Studies, a non-profit organization working to build a sustainable future by infusing ancient contemplative science into contemporary culture and ways of life.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)