Cook County Health Department: Become a Vegetarian!

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jan 2, 2012 5:30PM

Dr. Terry Mason, Chief Medical Officer of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, has a New Year's resolution for you that would make our resident vegetarian John DiGilio proud: Give up meat for a month. Last Friday, he appeared on Fox News Chicago and pointed out that, during the four minutes he was on the air, five people would die because of smoking, drinking and bad eating habits. And he's trying to do his part to cut that number down.

If your New Year's resolution is to lose weight, this might be a great way to do it. What counts as meat for Mason? He's not suggesting that you become a pescetarian or just cut out red meat. He told Fox, "If it walks, hops, crawls, flys, slithers, has got eyes, a momma and a daddy, it's meat."

If you're looking to give up meat (or quit smoking, or drink more water), the Cook County health department is sponsoring a "Restart 4 Health" program, that incorporates churches, colleges and local vegetarian restaurants like Soul Vegetarian. Sessions begin on January 3rd. Watch the complete segment below.