I pledge to do my best to go meatless today and every Monday. For months I have been reading status updates on Facebook and Twitter with delicious recipes for Meatless Monday dishes. I finally decided to join in. It really isn’t a huge plunge for me; I’m already a borderline vegan (borderline because I do eat turkey raised without antibiotic use, organic eggs, fish and too many to count ice cream cones).
What is Meatless Monday?
Meatless Monday is a movement encouraging people to improve their health and improve the health of the planet by lowering their meat consumption. The initiative is promoted by a non-profit comprised of Meatless Mondays Campaign and John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Why Meatless?
Each year the average American eats 200 pounds of meat. That number is up 75 pounds per person from a century ago when The Department of Agriculture first began keeping records of our meat intake. That’s a lot of meat!
Personal benefits of not eating meat:
- Lower cholesterol
- Helps maintain a healthy weight
- Reduce risk of cancer
- Improve overall diet
- Promotes a healthier, longer life
- Less expensive
Benefits for the planet-it’s green to eat green:
Reduces your carbon footprint
The UN estimates the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that accelerate climate change.
Uses less water
An estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. Holy cow (sorry couldn’t resist)! More than half of all water used in the United States goes into livestock production. Meanwhile, livestock production is a major source of water pollution.
Reduces fuel dependence
According to Meatless Monday, about 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of feed lot beef in the U.S. (compared to 2.2 calories of fossil fuel for plant-based protein). Many of the animals aren’t raised locally meaning meat has to travel long distances to reach consumers.
More humane
Plain and simple-if the number of people eating meat decreases there will be less demand for animals that are kept in inhumane, prison-like settings before being slaughtered.
Why Monday?
For many of us Monday represents the beginning of a new week. Routine kicks in again after the weekend and it’s the perfect time to start off on a healthy foot.
What to eat on Mondays
Fortunately, there are so many great sites with delicious recipes just for Meatless Monday.
Here are a few posts with Meatless Monday ideas to get started:
- 24 Vegetarian Recipes to Make Meatless Mondays Go Down Easier
- Meatless Monday Recipe Roundup
- Meatless Monday: Top Five Veggie March Madness Snacks
- Meatless Monday: Simple Vegan Alternatives to Dairy
- Meatless Monday: Fresh Spring Pasta With Asparagus
Now I have to see if my husband and kids are up for the pledge to go meat free on Mondays.
Want to give Meatless Monday a try with me? Are you already meatless on Mondays? Feel free to share your ideas and recipes with us newbies.
If this post helped you, please share it. And please grab our RSS feed or sign up for free e-mail updates to get more Groovy Green info hot off the press! Thanks!
[Top photo used under Creative Commons from Our Update/Flickr]
[Salad photo used under Creative Commons from Claire Bell/Flickr]
Sources:
Congrats on taking the plunge! I’m meatless 364 days of the year, so Meatless Monday isn’t really a challenge for me, either. I’ve been thinking that I want more days to be totally vegan, though, so I could try to kick it up a notch. Do you have a favorite vegan cookbook? I wouldn’t mind having a go-to one that isn’t full of meat/egg/dairy substitutes.
I love it! I am meatless all year and also a vegan/flexatarian. I still eat fish so I can’t really say I am FULL vegan. Maybe I can try and be conscious that I am not eating fish on Mondays. I love this idea. What a great way to teach people the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.
Jennifer- a good vegan cookbook is: Skinny Bitch in the Kitch!
Haha-what do you do on the 365 day? I don’t really have any vegan cookbooks that I use. I have a lot of other cookbooks and just focus on the vegan recipes. I’m going to have to check out Meg’s cook book recommendation!
Thanks for the cookbook suggestion Meg! Love the title. How long have you been vegan/flexatarian? I also eat and love fish. There are so many different ways of eating-many of them don’t fall into a specific category. We had our first Meatless Monday today and decided not to have fish. It turned out to be an interesting combination of food-my kids were looking for the “protein”.
I make one exception to my vegetarianism each year for getting clam chowder on the wharf with my best friend. It’s a ritual we’ve had for years, and I realized it was one reason why I waited so long to go vegetarian — I hated the thought of giving it up completely. Then I realized I didn’t really have to. I would feel bad about making an exception for an animal with a central nervous system, but a quarter of a clam per year? I think my conscience can take that.
I think clam chowder is a great reason to opt out for the day. Becoming a vegetarian or vegan can mean so many different things these days. I think it’s hard to fall into one category -I certainly don’t. We all have to do what works for each of us.
Love the Meatless Monday challenge – do it all the time. Working on bringing it to my friends and family. Even got my school to go meatless most Mondays! Sometimes we even have a few fresh veggies from our small terrace (Manhattan, NYC)!
Hi Sara-I think it’s fabulous that you’ve gotten your school to go meatless on most Mondays! And veggies from your very own garden-what a great way for kids to learn about eating locally. If only more schools could be like yours. Kids are really where it’s at. If we can teach them about the importance of reducing our carbon footprints and how to do it, the world would be much better off. Thanks for doing your part so well.
Thanks Lori! If you get a chance, I’d love it if you could check out my blog: http://www.2TheGreenBlog.blogspot.com. I’m working on a lot of projects, both in and out of school, the blog being one of them.
Best,
Sara
We go meatless quite a lot in our house. My husband is a meat lover but I don’t eat much at all and since I do most of the cooking he kind of losses out. I have tried to convince him of all these benefits but he just doesn’t see it. Hoping I can raise my girls to be open minded to both sides and make a wise decision when they are old enough to decide on their own.
I did check it out Sara! It looks great. Seems like you have a lot of great things going on. Best of luck to you!
Hi Abbie-Your hubby’s not really losing out! He is reaping all of the health benefits from not having meat too often. Sometimes it’s hard to convince others…..but you are setting such a wonderful example for your girls. All we can do as parents is teach our children and then hope that they make good decisions when they are older.
Another personal benefit to not eating meat: you’re less likely to develop a food-borne illness!
I avoid meat when eating out unless I’m dining at a restaurant that serves sustainably raised meat. At home, I tend to buy the good stuff, and because it costs more, I do so less frequently. My guess is… I eat meat one day out of every three?
Good point Andrea-how many times have we seen ground beef recalled for some form of E. coli? There seem to be more and more restaurants serving organic and natural meats. Yes, it really is expensive to buy the good stuff-so it’s money in your pocket to cut back on meat consumption. You are already beyond Meatless Monday! Nice job.
I love this post, Lori. I need to write about this on my blog soon! 🙂
Thanks Stephanie! You definitely should write about it. Make sure you share when you do!
Great post, Lori. So many important reminders and suggestions for cutting back on our meat consumption. Now, if we could get the mercury out of fish, maybe we could bring a little fish back into our diets. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Ronnie. You are right-it would be nice to not have to worry about high levels of mercury in our fish. I do eat fish, but am very selective about the type and where it comes from. Thanks for stopping by!
Welcome aboard Lori. There are so many great recipes floating around-this will be a breeze for you!
Alison
Thanks Alison! I’ve actually been doing meatless many days and am loving it.