A keen cook and yoga practitioner, she was given a copy of the award-winning cookbook by her husband after giving up meat six months ago. It is divided according to the seasons and contains 312 recipes covering every Monday mealtime of the year: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I really love the idea of MFM,” says Janaina, 39. “Almost everyone I know can’t imagine their lives without meat, even for one day a week, but I wanted to help make a difference.”
After going meat free she began to learn more about food and its effect on the human body, as well as to understand the impact of food production and consumption on the environment. It led her to give up her job in marketing and start writing a food blog, Alimento e Você (Food and You).
Now she intends to rustle up a MFM menu for different guests every week, starting with friends from work, challenging them in turn to drop meat from their diets for one day every week.
On Monday she will post the menu for the week ahead and announce the name of her lucky guests, before cooking for them on Sunday, and on Friday she will post pictures of their own efforts, as well as those of people following the blog.
Janaina is starting with the recipe for the twelfth week of Spring, which includes Fried Bananas with Pecans and Maple Syrup, Fatoush Salad with Grilled Halloumi and Asparagus Risotto.
Promoting Meat Free Monday in her corner of the world is a little thing in the grand scheme of things, she says, but she hopes it will help people around her see the environment and themselves in a different light.
“My goal is to teach people how easy it is to cook without meat,” she says. “When they see how easy it is they can choose a day that better suits them [to go meat free] or adopt Monday like the Meat Free Monday campaign.”
To keep up with Janaina’s progress, join her in cooking the weekly menu and send her your pictures, visit her blog, alimentoevoce.com.br, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter (@alimentoevoce).