Argentina’s President Will Go Meat-Free If Paul McCartney Plays “Blackbird” in His Office

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández is willing to give up meat under one condition. “If Paul McCartney plays ‘Blackbird’ in my office, I’ll stop eating meat,” Fernández said during a recent meeting with Unión Vegana Argentina (UVA) according to local outlet Buenos Aires Times. The meeting was organized by UVA President Manuel Martí to discuss a petition signed by 500,000 people who opposed the construction of pig factory farms in Argentina. The meeting also included discussions about the implementation of Meat-Free Monday—a campaign spearheaded by Sir Paul McCartney and his daughters in 2009—in Argentina’s public offices. “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 … he was very concerned about that issue,” Martí said. 

While Martí revealed that Fernández’s comment about going meat-free was said lightheartedly, Martí did reach out to McCartney to hold the president to his word. “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,” Martí said. “I hope Paul has the power to make him understand the necessity and importance of this.”

Meat-Free Mondays
In 2017, former President Mauricio Macri (whose term ended in 2019) implemented vegan Mondays at the Casa Rosada (the equivalent of the White House in the United States). The 554 employees of the Casa Rosada, including Macri, excluded animal products from their diets one day per week to benefit the environment and for the purpose of starting a conversation about the health issues surrounding the high-meat diets of Argentine citizens.