The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 2009
Ghent's Donderdag Veggiedag makes Thursday the world's first city veggie day
EVA and the City of Ghent declared Thursday the city's weekly meat-free day — 90,000 veggie street maps, city schools on board, and a model copied abroad.
City of Ghent (Stad Gent) · EVA (Ethisch Vegetarisch Alternatief)
What it had to solve
EVA, Belgium's largest vegetarian organisation, wanted a city-wide way to cut meat consumption for health and the climate. Ghent's city services had the reach to make the idea an official weekly habit rather than a one-off campaign.
How it works
In May 2009 the Belgian city of Ghent, together with the vegetarian organisation EVA (Ethisch Vegetarisch Alternatief), declared Thursday the city's official 'Veggiedag' — a weekly day without meat or fish. Ghent became the first city in the world to institute such a day, framed around health and climate rather than moralising.
The city used its own machinery to make the habit real: public canteens offered vegetarian menus, city schools served vegetarian lunches on Thursdays, and restaurants signed up across town. Around 90,000 so-called 'veggie street maps' were printed to help residents and visitors find the city's vegetarian eateries.
The idea was deliberately simple — one day, every week, the same ask — so it spread without new infrastructure. Within months it was covered on every continent, other Belgian towns adopted their own veggie days, and Ghent's later food and climate strategy still cites the 2009 campaign as the starting point of the city's shift toward more plant-based food.
Why it lands
- A fixed weekday made the behaviour self-repeating: no launch event was needed each week, just the calendar.
- Official city endorsement gave the idea legitimacy and reach that a private campaign could not match, from schools to municipal canteens.
- It framed vegetarianism as a shared civic routine for climate and health, not a personal moral position.
- Printed street maps turned participation into a practical, visible choice — where to eat, not just why.
What it did
Ghent became the first city in the world with an official weekly meat-free day. Around 90,000 'veggie street maps' were printed at launch, city schools joined the scheme, and within months the idea was reported worldwide and copied by other Belgian towns and cities abroad.
What you can take
A fixed weekly rhythm plus official city backing outlasts a one-off stunt: repeating the same small ask every Thursday lets schools, restaurants and residents join without new campaigns.
Since then
Donderdag Veggiedag ran for years in Ghent and inspired copycats in other Belgian cities and abroad. EVA later became ProVeg Belgium, which still describes Thursday Veggie Day as its best-known campaign, and Ghent's current climate food strategy dates the city's plant-based shift to the 2009 initiative.
Sources
- Belgian city plans 'veggie' days
- Day of the lentil burghers: Ghent goes veggie to lose weight and save the planet
- Gentse Veggiedag verovert de wereld
- Voor consumenten — Donderdag Veggiedag
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe the brief you are staring at, and see who has been given the same problem.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card