Tuesday, February 24, 2009

One Day a Week for a better planet


I am making one day a week a meatless day. I choose Wednesday as my meatless day- And I would like everyone to join me. I am not talking a challenge here nor am I talking about total vegan-ism either, but taking one day a week to eat less meat. Everything I have read on the topic lists increased health benefits, Reduced Greenhouse emissions, a better world globally. A U.N. study in 2006 found that 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions came from the livestock industry, chiefly in the form of methane burped up and otherwise emitted by cattle, sheep and pigs. And it would be kinder to your food budget as well. For all that I can take one day and eat no meat. Recently I have tried a number of vegan and vegetarian recipes, all of which passed the rob test (meaning they are easy to prepare, tasty and just plain good) And I can see no reason people wouldn’t take a day a week and eat better. According to Physorg.com here are the facts about meat - to produce 1 kg (2.2 pounds)of animal protein, 3 to 10 kg(6.61 to 22.04 lbs.) of plant protein is required, depending on the particular animal species and circumstances; - 1 kg of beef requires 15 m3(1771.5 Inches) water, one kg of lamb requires 10 m3(1181.1 inches), while for one kg of grain 0.4 to 3 m3(6.08-194)* is sufficient; - 75 percent of available fresh water, 35 percent of available land and 20 percent of all energy resources are currently used for food production; - between 1950 and 2000, the world's population doubled from 2.7 to 6.7 billion people while meat production increased fivefold from 45 to 233 billion kg per year. The FAO predicts a global population of 9 billion people in 2050, and meat production of 450 billion kg per year. And the other side of this coin is we should reduce our meat consumption. For our health, The Washington Post reports that cutting the meat helps cut our fat intake, which in turn makes us a little bit healthier; and for our pocket books. Price a pound of hamburger lately? Compare that price with a pound of lentils at the supermarket. And please don’t complain to me that your kids or spouses won’t do this… You don’t have to tell them they are cutting out meat one day per week- On your meatless day you could serve Mac and Cheese, (no bacon please) or any number of meatless dishes out there. Need some inspiration? Go to Chile’s blog and look at her recipe collection. One green generation is another blog site that has numerous recipes that don’t involve meat! Here is a link to her recipe collection! So grow a pair and join me on this meatless journey. One day a week- is all I ask! And here is a little inspiration for you-

I am sorry but this cow before slaughter pic just makes me feel like a bad human. Look at her face and tell me she isn't terrified.
* I am not sure of my math on metric conversion, so I will not swear by it
EDIT NOTE: CHILE informs me that Jennifer also has an extensive list of Vegan Recipes

6 comments:

Chile said...

Good for you, Rob. Jennifer also has a good set of recipes.

Anonymous said...

Good for you in making an impact, no matter how small, it all counts! I'd join you but I'm vegetarian already, pretty much almost vegan.

Jennifer said...

Good for you! I should probably join you for a dairy/eggless day or two a week! You are right... every little bit counts.

I have a lot of easy veggie recipes... we like to eat dinner FAST and easy.

Farmer's Daughter said...

Many Catholic folks around here skip meat on Fridays during lent.

I'm not skipping meat since we know our beef and pork was raised humanely and sustainably and is in our freezer, and we catch our fish. But I bet I'll change my tune on that when we start to run low...

I think it's good to get some veg/vegan recipes under your belt so you have options when you can't find meat that's up to your standards.

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Melinda said...

Awesome, Rob! Great post. For some reason until I read about the ruminant problem in The Wall Street Journal, the methane burping didn't really hit home for me. That brings into question for me the sustainability of even sustainably raised meat... wow. I don't know why it's shocked me so, but it has!

Great point about just serving mac & cheese or something else without meat, instead of making a big deal about it. Lol, my mom slowly weaned she and my dad off of beef just by cooking it less and less. My dad had no idea, but didn't mind because it just sort of happened with no fanfare.

And the last pic really makes me feel for her - powerful.