President of Argentina Will Go Meatless – If Sir Paul McCartney Serenades Him!

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez claims only one person could convince him to give up meat: The Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney, a longtime vegetarian, an advocate of meatless diets, and the co-founder of Meatless Mondays with his daughters Stella and Mary. Fernandez met with the Union Vegana Argentina (UVA) to discuss a petition opposing pig factory farms signed by more than 500,000 people in his country, but when asked if he would participate in McCartney’s meat-free Mondays campaign, he responded:  “If Paul McCartney plays ‘Blackbird’ in my office, I’ll stop eating meat.” Sir Paul, over to you! How is your travel schedule in the coming weeks?

The UVA president Manuel Marti presented the hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to the President in hopes that he would acknowledge the real dangers of factory farms. Marti revealed that even though Fernandez'ss comment was said jokingly, he has already reached out to McCartney in hopes that the musician would persuade Fernandez.

“I began putting the Paul McCartney request into motion and at some point, he’s going to send a letter to the president asking him to implement No-Meat Mondays, as they have done in other countries,” Marti said. “I hope Paul has the power to make him understand the necessity and importance of this.”

Although Fernandez joked around, Marti feels hopeful that he listened to the petition. The previous President Mauricio Marci implemented Vegan Mondays at the Casa Rosada during his time in office, meaning that the precedent for animal product-free meals has been set. Vegan Mondays were implemented because Marci wanted to bring attention to the environment and unhealthy eating practices of Argentinian citizens. From Marti’s perspective, President Fernandez seems open to hearing the evidence he was presented with.

“The President received the signatures without adopting a position and listened carefully to everything we told him about the impact of meat consumption on climate change,” Marti continued. “He was very concerned about the issue.”

Since 2009, Sir Paul McCartney has been a centerpiece for the plant-based movement. He launched the Meat-Free Monday campaign with his two daughters, Stella and Mary, to encourage people to start limiting the meat in their diets. Over the last 10 years, the McCartneys’ campaign has inspired millions to stop and think about the environmental impact of carefree meat-eating. The UVA suggested that President Fernandez put Meat-Free Mondays in place across all of Argentina’s public offices, but the President wasn’t so easily convinced.

With Paul McCartney’s continued outspoken activism, President Fernandez may just get a private Beatles concert. As an active advocate for veganism and vegetarianism, the legendary musician has made an impact that’s reverberated across the world and may inspire more change in Argentina.