Meat Free Week

Meat Free Week | Recipe Ideas | Get involved

Get your veg out! Sign up online at Meat Free Week

Or read our fundraising guidelines and submit a fundraising proposal.

| Meat Free Week

Go meat free for Meat Free Week (24-30 September 2023) and support a great cause.

Why go meat free for Meat Free Week?

Going meat free for one week creates an opportunity for you to think about the benefits of eating more plant-based foods, including how consuming wholegrains and plant-based foods containing dietary fibre can help decrease the risk of bowel cancer.

Whether it's for seven days or one day, we'd love you to join us in Meat Free Week and raise funds for a great cause.

As the health partner of Meat Free Week since 2014, Bowel Cancer Australia continues to support this dynamic awareness and fundraising campaign that motivates action.

Bowel Cancer Australia's vision is to have an everlasting impact on our health future - one where no Australian dies from bowel cancer.

Meat Free Week participants have the opportunity to raise funds in support of Bowel Cancer Australia’s vital Bowel Care Nutritionist advisory service and bowel cancer prevention programs, to help save lives and to improve the health and wellbeing of people living with and beyond bowel cancer.

Everyone is invited to take the Meat Free Week challenge and discover how easy it is to make little changes that can create a big difference.

Delicious recipes are just the start.

Challenge yourself to go meat-free for seven days, host a plant-based dinner with friends or organise a plant-based afternoon tea a work.

Let us know what you will be eating throughout the week, share your favourite plant-based recipes, meals and tips.

If you're already living meat free, there are still plenty of ways you can get involved in Meat Free Week.

| Meat Free Week: Eat well. Live well. Be well.

Adopt a physically active lifestyle.
Consume a healthy diet with an emphasis on plant-based foods.
Maintain a healthy body weight.

According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics the average Australian consumes 27.9kg of pork per year, more than double the 11.7kg in 1975. In addition, Aussies eat around 27.9kg of beef per person, per year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified red meat – including, beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, and goat – as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. WHO also found an even stronger link between processed meat – such as salami and hotdogs, and bowel cancer. Listing the consumption of processed meat as carcinogenic to humans.

Studies conducted by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) show bowel cancer risk increases by 17% per 100g of red meat consumed per day and that bowel cancer risk increases by 18% per 50g of processed meat consumed per day. For example, ¼ cooked hamburger = 80g; 1 large sausage = 40g processed meat; 3 slices of ham = 70g processed meat.

If you choose to eat red meat, the WCRF recommends limiting the amount to 500 grams cooked per week and to avoid processed meats; such as bacon, ham and salami.

On average, Australians consume 565 grams of red meat per week.

Meat Free Week is all about raising awareness. It’s not about promoting a complete shift to a vegetarian or vegan diet, but rather supporting a pause and providing an opportunity for people to make more informed decisions if they’re eating over the recommended intake.

Read more about how you can reduce your bowel cancer risk.

Meat Free Week

| Get involved

Challenge yourself, your friends, your family and your colleagues to try a plant-based menu for a week and raise funds for a great cause!

Sign up and create your Meat Free Week online fundraising page.

Write a short blurb about why you’re participating in Meat Free Week.

Upload a profile picture.

Select your fundraising target.

Encourage everyone you know to make a donation in support of your Meat Free Week efforts by sharing your unique fundraising page URL.

Spread the word

Use your personal fundraising page to invite friends via email or social media.

Tweet your support and/or Instagram your favourite meat-free meals.

Educate yourself, family and friends on the impact eating too much meat can have by visiting our modifiable risk factors webpage.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram - remember to hashtag #MeatFreeWeek.

Plan your week

Get some inspiration by checking out the delicious meat free recipes provided by our favourite chefs and foodies.

It’s a great idea to plan your meals for each of the seven days before Meat Free Week commences. It will make it so much easier (and more fun) to stick to your resolve.

Visit easy peasy fundraising tips and free downloadable posters, social media images and other resources.

Already a Vegetarian or Vegan?

We hope Meat Free Week creates an opportunity for you to encourage meat loving friends or family to take a break from meat for a week and discover some great plant-based alternatives.

Encourage some meat loving friends to sign up for the challenge and sponsor them and/or offer to cook a meat free meal during the week.

Host a dinner party during Meat Free Week and ask guests to bring along a vegetarian/vegan plate and make a donation in support of the campaign.

Organise a night out at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant or cafe. Ask everyone to chip in a bit extra and donate the contribution to the campaign.

If you're short on time, then one of the simplest ways to get involved is to make a donation.

Please read our fundraising guidelines and submit a fundraising proposal.

Please Note: If you are planning to do online fundraising ONLY, there's no need to complete the proposal, simply sign up online and you're good to go!

Meat Free Week

| Easy peasy fundraising tips

Let eveyone know: spread the word that you are taking part in Meat Free Week with family and friends whether that be face-to-face, via email, online or over the phone, chat to your work colleagues, get something included in your club/group newsletter, encourage as many people as possible to take the challenge with you.

Be social: post your fundraiser details on your social media pages. Remember to include the campaign hashtag #MeatFreeWeek so that we can share/re-tweet.

Create: make a poster or flyer about your fundraising and distribute them around your workplace or local community (be sure to receive the appropriate charity/company/council approvals first). Free poster templates are available for download from Bowel Cancer Australia's online shop. Contact your local newspaper to see if they will feature your story and fundraising efforts in the next edition.

Work it: ask the HR department at work if they can put a posting about your fundraising on the company intranet or in the company newsletter. Investigate if your employer matches charity donations (many large and/or community conscious organisations do). Hold a Meat Free Week luncheon or morning tea at your workplace – to help we’ve created an event poster that you can download and some extra tips on hosting an event at work.

Break it down: break your fundraising down into achievable bite-sized chunks. For example: sponsorship from your family - $200, vegetarian dinner with friends - $200, morning tea at work - $100. $500 reached!

Give thanks: be sure to thank all your donors and sponsors, tell them why their support is so important and how their donation will help by posting individual thank you comments for every donation received, updating your fundraising page regularly and sharing posts on your social media.