Week 18 - GO VEGETARIAN!

Well, at least a couple times a week! Believe it or not, in this instance I am not promoting vegetarianism for the ethical reason of not killing a living thing for food. That is a perfectly sound reason particularly in light of the fact we can healthfully exist on fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes; we are omnivores after all. No, I am promoting vegetarianism for another ethical reason, the environment. I bet you have no concept of the impact raising animals for food has on the environment; I didn’t and you will be surprised!

According to greenpeace.org:

• In the United States, more than one third of all fossil fuel and raw material consumption is used to raise livestock.
• It can take up to 15 times as much water to produce animal protein as it does to produce protein from plants. According to author John Robbins in his book The Food Revolution, you could save more water by not eating a pound of California beef than you could by not showering for an entire year.
• Animal agriculture contributes significantly to global warming by producing more than 100 million tons of methane annually. (Women’s Health magazine adds, “cattle and sheep alone pass so much wind - that’s just the way they are - that they generate a whopping 18 percent of all methane, a greenhouse gas”).
• Livestock operations generate roughly 130 times as much bodily waste as the entire human population of the United States, which makes its way into the environment without going through the sewage treatment systems found in our cities and towns. This untreated waste pollutes American waterways more than all other industrial sources combined.
• It takes up to 10 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat. In the US, we feed more than 70 percent of the grains and cereals we grow to farmed animals, only a fraction of which is actually converted into the meat that people eat. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people — more than the entire human population on Earth. (Also note, growing corn requires fertilizer, which releases nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas. When you want to eat beef, choose pasture-fed cattle. I saw some in the grocery store the other day. Ask your butcher about it or visit eatwild.com).
• More than 260 million acres of US forests have been cleared to grow grain for livestock. In the Amazon, more than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in the 2004-2005 growing season to raise crops that were used to feed animals in factory farms. Up to 220 square feet of rainforest are sacrificed to produce just one pound of hamburger.
• Due to the amount of land required to raise animals for food and the destructive effect livestock has on the land, animal farming is the leading threat to endangered species and the number one cause of species extinction in the US and around the world.
• According to the Worldwatch Institute, the meat industry is directly responsible for 85 percent of all soil erosion in the US.

Now that’s astounding! Who woulda thunk it? We thought we were just harmlessly enjoying our t-bone! I know most people are not about to give up meat completely, but I think we could give it up once or twice a week. If you are not motivated by the environment, you should be motivated by your health!

The following is a list of on-line sites to help you go meatless:

1. MeatlessMonday.com : A site dedicated to getting people to reduce the amount of saturated fat in their diets. They focus on starting to make a change one day a week; in this case Mondays. Search the archives where the recipes are organized by holidays, cooking methods, ethnicity and ingredients.
2. Allrecipes.com: This is my “go to” recipe site. I’ve used it for years and it just gets better. You can search for both meatless meals and vegetarian meals. What’s great about it is the recipes get rated which helps you decide if they are worth giving a try. Also, the little tweaks some of the raters provide, lets you know about some minor adjustments you may want to make.
3. Recipezaar.com: It has recipes for everything and they are also rated. Search for vegetarian meals and it will provide you with a lot of recipes for vegetarian versions of your favorites.

You can also peruse your local library’s collection of cook books. Or ask your friends what meatless meals they enjoy.

Listen, if worse comes to worst, how hard is it to boil up some nice whole wheat pasta and top it with plain or vegetable marina sauce, or fresh garden tomato sauce, or olive oil and garlic. Along with a side salad and a crusty roll, you’re good! The environment will thank you, the animals will thank you and oh yeah, your arteries will thank you too!