PEOPLE who take part in Meat Free Monday are more likely to become fully vegetarian, a study has revealed.

Research by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) has found a third of meat eaters who take part in Meat Free Monday go fully vegetarian after five years.

It also found that 20 per cent of people who engaged with similar programmes became vegetarian or vegan within three to five years.

The Meat Free Monday initiative was launched in 2009 by Sir Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney to raise awareness of the environmental impact of eating meat and to inspire people to consume less on just one day a week.

Dr Richard de Visser, reader in Psychology at BSMS and lead author of the study, said: “Our study showed that behaviour change campaigns like Meat Free Monday are most effective if they can maintain people’s active engagement.

“We now need to work on developing the best ways to keep this engagement, through providing the kind of support, information and advice that participants want.”

The Argus: Sir Paul with his daughters Stella and MarySir Paul with his daughters Stella and Mary

Since the launch of Meat Free Monday, the charity has worked in schools, university, restaurants and business, made an appeal at the EU parliament and published a cookbook.

Sir Paul, who is a vegetarian, still campaigns with the meat-free movement and encourages people to reduce their meat consumption.

The former Beatle said: “By skipping animal products one day a week, the environmental impact is substantial. For example, if every person in Great Britain skipped meat for one day, it would reduce our carbon footprint by more than if every car was taken off the road for a whole day.

“For those people who end up moving to a completely veggie diet, there is obviously an even greater environmental impact.”

In July, Sir Paul, who has a home in Peamarsh near Rye, released a new vegetarian cookbook inspired by his late wife Linda McCartney.

Linda died of breast cancer in 1998, but she is still considered to be an influential figure in the world of food and animal welfare.

The new cookbook, Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen, shares her recipes and promote the importance – to animals and the environment – of eating a plant-based diet.

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